Plateau Govt Imposes 24-Hour Curfew Over Terrorists Attacks

Authorities in the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau on Sunday evening declared a 24-hour curfew in the council area.

The chairman of the Interim Management Committee in the LGA, Markus Artu, who announced the curfew in a statement on Sunday evening said: “A 24-hour curfew has been declared in Mangu Local Government Area. As such there will be no vehicular movement of any sort.

“Furthermore, all movement on motorcycles has been banned until further notice. Only Security personnel and workers on essential duty will be allowed to move.”

It was learnt that the declaration of the curfew followed a fresh invasion of some communities in the area by terrorists.

Although the exact number of casualties recorded in the affected communities could not be verified at the time of filling this report, sources said the terrorists invaded about four communities in the LGA including Mangu town, and killed several residents while several houses were also burnt.

The lawmaker representing the Mangu South constituency, Bala Fwangji who spoke with our Correspondent on the phone on Sunday night confirmed the development.

The lawmaker said: “All I can tell you is that war has been declared on our people in Mangu. They are just attacking and killing our people right left and centre. The attacks started today in the Bwai community and then, they moved to Mangu town and now, it has spread to Sabon Gari. Our people really need help. It is to curtail the situation that Local Government authority has declared a 24-hour curfew in the LGA.”

The spokesman for the Plateau State Police Command, Alabo Alfred, could not be reached when contacted on the fresh attacks in Mangu communities but the police command had earlier deployed its mobile units to the troubled LGA and other areas in the state in a bid to protect the people from further attacks by terrorists which had persisted in the past months.