Plateau Killings: CAN says death toll higher

The Christian Association of Nigeria says it has confirmed that more people were killed in Plateau state during last weekend’s unrest, than official figures show.

Police said 86 people died. The figure had not changed as of Wednesday, the state police commissioner, Undie Adie, told PREMIUM TIMES.

The victims were attacked by suspected herdsmen while returning from a funeral ceremony on Saturday, locals say.

There have also been reports of an earlier incident against cattle herders suspected to have triggered the mayhem.

President Muhammadu Buhari joined other Nigerians to condemn the attack and visited Plateau state on Tuesday.

The exact death toll in the attack seems unclear with the police and community leaders giving different figures.

A resident had told PREMIUM TIMES at least 120 people were killed.

In a statement Wednesday, CAN president, Samson Ayokunle, the association said the Christian body received details of the attack from reliable sources within the mostly affected communities.

Mr Ayokunle’s media aide, Bayo Oladeji, later told PREMIUM TIMES that the sources included people who conducted close investigations to unravel the nature of the problem.

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The group said the death toll stood at 218.

It said 37 villages had been under attacks by the suspected herdsmen for a while.

“Following the killings that took place on the Plateau, CAN has obtained reliable information on the number of the dead as recorded in B/Ladi & Riyom LGAs from Sat. 23rd to Monday 25th June, 2018,” it said.

It said attacks took place at Gashish, Ropp, Bash, Heipang and Zawan districts.

The claims could not be independently verified.

The group reiterated its calls for justice and an intervention to stop the killings.

Mr Adie, the state police commissioner, told PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday night he could not immediately corroborate the findings of CAN.

“I still have a team that is investigating in the field and I don’t know if they have returned from there,” the police chief said. “By tomorrow I will ask them.”