Troops of Operation Enduring Peace, police arrest seven over Qua’an-Pan genocide, cattle rustling

Troops of Operation Enduring Peace, police arrest seven over Qua’an-Pan genocide, cattle rustling

By: Zagazola Makama

A combined security forces from Operation Enduring Peace have arrested seven suspects in connection with the killing of residents and rustling of cattle in Bong/Kook village, Qua’an-Pan Local Government Area of Plateau State.

Zagazola Makama gathered that the suspects, all locals of Plateau state, were arrested on Jan. 4 at about 9:30 p.m. following credible intelligence.

According to the sources, the arrests were carried out at Namu while the suspects were en route to Nasarawa State by a combined team of the police, Operation Enduring Peace and local hunters.

“The suspects arrested include both the masterminds and those who directly participated in the attack and killing at Kook village,” the sources said.

The incident, which occurred in the early hours of Jan. 2, involved armed men who invaded Bong/Kook village in Doemak District, rustled some cows and shot dead residents during the attack.

The Plateau State Police Command had earlier confirmed that at least seven persons were killed and several others injured during the invasion, adding that two of the attackers were also neutralised during a pursuit by security forces.

Sources said a joint team of soldiers, police personnel, operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and vigilantes pursued the attackers, who allegedly killed residents to facilitate their escape before abandoning the rustled cattle.

The security forces clarified that preliminary investigations linked the incident to criminal elements involved in cattle rustling, and not to ethnic or religious motives.

It added that the rustled cows had been recovered, while security deployment had been intensified across the area to prevent further attacks.

Security agencies said efforts were ongoing to track down and arrest other fleeing suspects and to recover weapons used during the attack.

Zagazola Makama observed that the arrest of seven suspects connected to the killings failed to attract significant attention as part selective narrative in the reporting and advocacy around violence in the state.

Zagazola has previously reported how the deadly attack attracted unusually low publicity and muted reactions because the perpetrators were locals of the state and not Fulani bandits. It failed to generate the level of outrage, media coverage and international attention often associated with similar killings in Plateau State.

“The attack did not fit into the familiar ethnic or religious framing that usually drives strong reactions. The assailants were identified as Plateau indigenes, and the victims were neither Fulani nor linked to pastoral communities,”Makama said.

Troops of Operation Enduring Peace, police arrest seven over Qua’an-Pan genocide, cattle rustling