Plateau Killings: Victims of Jos Attack Laid to Rest Amid Grief, Tears
The remains of the victims of Yelwa-Zangum attack were laid to rest in the village yesterday as survivors, family members and residents of the village wept uncontrollably and cursed the masterminds of the attack.
Of the 36 persons that were killed during the attack, only16 bodies were brought from the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) to the village amidst tight security in two trucks.
One after the other, NGNEWS247 observed, the remains of the victims were brought down from the truck as survivors wailed and cursed those who were behind their pain.
As the 16th body was brought down from the truck, some women fainted and became unconscious, through they were resuscitated.
A mother, who lost two of her daughters to the attack, simply identified as Mrs. Rita wailed, saying her entire world had been taken away from her and she might never remain the same again.
Seventeen other victims that were burnt beyond recognition were buried earlier.
The brief burial ceremony began with songs and prayers, followed with a short exhortation by Director, Christian Education of Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), Rev. Ishaku Yaro who read from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
He admonished the audience to pay their final respect and not to despair, adding that the price paid by their loved ones would certainly not be in vain.
He said: “We have a hope that those who died will rise and those of us who believe will catch up with those who precede us in Christ.”
A retired civil servant, Ateke Bitrus, who lost nine members of his immediate family, said the attacks was well planned and clinically executed.
H noted that the major bridge linking the community “to the main city was destroyed to prevent access to security personnel or anyone that could have provided any form of help.”
The youth wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) asked government to rise up to its constitutional responsibility of protecting and defending the defenceless.
The Chairman of Plateau CAN Youth, Mr. Markus Audu said the latest onslaught of violence in the state “is perpetrated by those who are bent on annihilating those that profess the faith of Jesus Christ.”
He added that the current attacks “have united the Christian youths making it easy for them to have a common front against the enemy.”
He said the federal government “has failed to protect lives and property of its citizens, warning that if it continued “to fail in its responsibility, Christian youth will not stay back and watch their brethren killed in such a barbaric manner.”
Meanwhile, the Plateau State Government has returned to Ondo State, survivors of August 14 attack, involving some passengers, who were travelling the South-west state.
Some Fulanis, who were residents of Ikaram, Ondo State, that went for the annual Zikr (prayer session), in Bauchi, attacked in Jos on their way back home, by gunmen, who killed about 35 of them.
The Zikr was part of the activities to mark the commencement of the Islamic New Year.
The survivors were led to Akure, the Ondo State capital, by the Deputy Governor of Plateau State, Mr Sonni Tiyoden, who said about 25 suspects had been arrested in connection with the attack while investigations were ongoing, adding that perpetrators would be brought to book.
Speaking while handing over the survivors to the Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Hon Lucky Aiyedatiwa, Tiyoden said what happened was quite a shock, even to the government of Plateau State because it was an unprovoked attack on the victims.