Six persons, including a two- week old baby, were feared dead when gunmen launched a fresh assault on Lamba Gyambar village in Lamba district of Wase Local Government Area of Plateau state.
Four persons were also said to have been wounded in the attack while houses were set ablase.
According to eye witnesses, the attackers who were armed to the teeth invaded the village and started shooting sporadically causing residents to flee Lamba and Dengi Local Government.
Nuhu Musa, a resident of the area said, ” we were going about our normal activities suddenly we began to hear gun shots from different angles of our village.
“We saw the attackers shooting. They killed six people in the process including two- week old baby . They burnt down 20 houses and went away with some of our valuables”.
He added: ” We are very sure of the people that launched the attack. They are suspected to be Tarok because we saw a familiar face among the attackers. The wounded people have been rushed to hospital in Dengi and Bauchi for medical assistance “.
He gave the names of the deceased as Alh. Malam Muhammad (45); Sa’idu Bako (60); Hafsat Hassan (42); Fatima Musa (two weeks old); Adamu Ibrahim (60) and Rashida Khalid (38).
But when contacted the chairman of Tarok in Wase, Jangle Lohbut, debunked the allegation that the attack was launched by Tarok, explaining that there have always been a very good relationship between the two communities and as such there was no reason to attack the village.
He further said that the assault might have been by suspected armed robbers.
The chairman of Langtang North Local government Area, Nanmwa Godwin Kumzhi, condemned the attack and described it as barbaric especially now that peace is gradually returning to the area.
He also said act was not committed by the Tarok but however cautioned the youths against the use of dangerous weapons .
Kumzhi appealed for peaceful coexistence and dialogue among people of Wase and Langtang towards building a security network to curtain the activities of miscreants .