No fewer than 13 persons were feared killed in the early hours of Friday after suspected gunmen invaded Ngbra Zongo community in Kwall District of Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Several other residents were also said to have sustained varying degrees of injuries during the attack, which threw the community into panic.
A resident, Philip Alanga, told journalists in Jos that the assailants stormed the area around midnight, shooting sporadically before attacking residents with machetes and other dangerous weapons.
According to him, the attackers moved from one house to another, targeting helpless residents and leaving behind destruction and grief.
“They invaded the community around midnight and started shooting indiscriminately. They also attacked people with machetes and other weapons.
Many innocent residents were killed while others sustained injuries,” Alanga said.
He explained that many villagers fled into nearby bushes to escape the assault, while victims injured during the attack were rushed for urgent medical attention.
The Secretary General of the Irigwe Development Association, Mr Danjuma Auta, who confirmed the incident, described the attack as tragic, barbaric and unacceptable.
The latest assault is coming amid renewed insecurity in Plateau communities, where several deadly attacks linked to armed groups and suspected Fulani militias have been recorded in recent weeks.
Efforts to get official confirmation from security agencies on the casualty figure were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.