Calm returns to Mangu as survivors transferred to Kaduna for treatment

From Ado A. Musa, Dickson Adama (Jos), Maryam Ahmadu-Suka (Kaduna) & Itodo Daniel (Abuja)

Calm has returned to Mangun community in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State following the killing of 13 travellers on Friday.

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The victims, from Basawa community in Zaria, Kaduna State, were attacked while travelling in an 18-seater bus belonging to Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.

They were en route to Qua’an-Pan LGA in Plateau State to attend a wedding ceremony when they ran into the assailants around 8pm. The attackers reportedly set the bus ablaze.

Eighteen people injured in the attack have been transferred to the 44 Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna for further medical treatment.

Following their rescue by personnel of Operation Safe Haven, the injured were initially admitted to Mangu General Hospital and other nearby medical facilities.

According to Sheikh Suleiman Haruna, leader of the Mangu LGA delegation, the injured victims were later handed over to the Kaduna State Commissioner for Health and the Chairman of Zaria LGA.

Haruna said the Mangu LGA administration provided the necessary support, including an ambulance, for the transfer of the victims to Kaduna.

Those critically injured are receiving treatment at the 44 Army Reference Hospital, while those with minor injuries have been returned to their hometowns by the Kaduna State Government, he added.

Haruna said, “We called the attention of the Kaduna State Government and the victims’ relatives to the will of Allah. We preached that, in Islam, taking revenge is not allowed. We told them that the deceased would have died regardless of whether they had travelled to Plateau or not. We urged them to remain calm and continue praying for the souls of the departed.”

 Mangu is calm

Before the burial of the nine victims, tensions were high in Mangu over the killing of the wedding travellers, with some youths voicing outrage.

However, during the funeral, religious leaders and security operatives appealed to the youth to remain peaceful.

Addressing the situation, Haruna, who also chairs the Concerned Mangu Muslim Consultative Forum, said the town has since returned to normalcy.

“Mangu is peaceful. The tension has subsided, and everyone is going about their daily activities.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, we reached out to all Muslim community leaders, urging restraint and discouraging any form of retaliation. Thankfully, the youth listened. Life has resumed peacefully in Mangu,” he said.

Clerics want legal proceedings initiated against Plateau govt

The Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria (SCSN) and the Council of Imams and Ulama, Kaduna State Chapter, have strongly condemned the brutal killing of wedding travellers in Plateau State.

The Muslim organisations, in their separate statements, urged the Kaduna State government to initiate legal proceedings against the Plateau State government to get justice for the families of the deceased.

The Shari’ah council in its statement signed by the state secretary, Engineer AbdurRahman Hassan, described the attack as “barbaric, inhuman, and uncivilised,” decrying what it called a disturbing pattern of religiously motivated violence in Plateau State, often targeting Muslim communities.

According to the statement, “This latest bloodbath is one too many, from the Du pond carnage the cold-blooded murder of Major General Idris Alkali (rtd), these atrocities underscore the alarming reality that Muslim lives are still treated as expendable.”

Also, the Kaduna State Chapter of the Council of Imams and Ulama under the leadership of its acting chairman, Dr Muhammad Aliyu, the Chief Imam of Low Cost Juma’at Mosque, said previous massacres and similar acts of violence were committed in Plateau but the perpetrators have often gone unpunished.

The council, in a statement signed by its secretary general, Dr Yusuf Yakubu Arrigasiyyu, said: “Instead of justice, what the public has witnessed are apologies from state authorities on behalf of the attackers—only for the same groups to return to the roads, targeting more Muslim travellers for ambush, mutilation, and in some cases, acts of cannibalism.”

The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has condemned the gruesome killing of travellers in Plateau State, calling for a full-scale investigation and urgent security reforms to prevent further bloodshed.

In a statement issued on Monday, the lawmakers expressed shock and outrage over the ambush targeting 31 members of the Basawa community from Zaria, Kaduna State.

The statement was jointly signed by House Minority Leader, Rep. Kingsley Chinda; Deputy Minority Leader, Aliyu Madaki; Minority Whip, Dr Ali Isa; and Deputy Minority Whip, George Ozodinobi.

The minority caucus said, “This heinous act has left an entire community devastated. What began as a joyous journey ended in unspeakable tragedy,” the lawmakers said.

Citing accounts from survivors, the caucus said the travellers had clearly stated their peaceful intentions, bearing no arms but only gifts, kola nuts, and goodwill.

“They were not combatants nor aligned to any conflict. Yet, they were met with deadly violence. Such cruelty offends the conscience of every peace-loving Nigerian,” the statement read.

Attack on travellers horrendous – MURIC

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has condemned the killings of the weeding travellers in Plateau describing it as horrendous.

In a statement by its executive director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Monday, MURIC said the attack is “totally egregious and categorically preposterous.”

“We condemn the killings in the strongest terms. This zone has become a killing ground, particularly for Muslim travellers. Unfortunately, the rampaging youth have also become unrepentant in their killing sprees going by other attacks on Muslims carried out by them in the past.

“MURIC finds this disturbing considering several massacres and killings of Muslim travellers along the same axis which have ended in no punishment for the culprits but with the governors apologizing on behalf of the youth only for the same youth to go back to the roads seeking more Muslim travellers to ambush, kill, dismember and cannibalise.

“We call the attention of the federal government, Nigerians of goodwill and the international community, particularly the gullible West and its asymmetrical media team to the terror zone of Plateau State,” the group said.

The group called on security agencies including the police, military and DSS to ensure justice for the victims.

Plateau natives demand justice

The Plateau Initiative for Development and Advancement of the Natives (PIDAN) has called on relevant authorities to ensure that the perpetrators of the recent killing of wedding travellers are brought to justice.

PIDAN described the incident as barbaric, expressing sympathy with the Kaduna State Government and the families of the victims. The group urged that those responsible face the full weight of the law.

The call was contained in a statement issued by PIDAN’s Secretary-General, Danjuma Dickson Auta, which partly read, “PIDAN received with great shock and a deep sense of sorrow the report of the unfortunate killing of 12 passengers from Zaria, said to be travelling to Qua’an-Pan for a wedding ceremony.

“This is extremely painful, especially knowing what human life means to the Plateau man and considering that the freedom of movement is guaranteed in our constitution. The act is wholly condemnable and does not reflect the character or nature of the Plateau people.

“The PIDAN leadership equally sympathizes with the government and people of Kaduna State, the immediate families of the victims who lost their lives, and those who sustained injuries in the unfortunate event.

“We call for a thorough investigation into the incident, and anyone found culpable must be brought to justice without delay.”

PIDAN further reiterated its commitment to collaborating with the people of Kaduna and other neighbouring states in addressing the persistent security challenges affecting the region. The group also called for calm and peaceful coexistence among all Nigerians.