A serving Police officer has been declared missing just as over 20 people were killed and several others injured following an attack on Kawel village of Mushere Chiefdom in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State on Sunday night.

Conflict journalist, Masara Kim, who confirmed the invasion of the community in a post he shared on social media on Monday morning, said the assailants, who were positively identified as Fulani militias numbering over 100, stormed the village at about 10:30pm after residents had retired for the night.

According to Kim, the attackers, armed with sophisticated weapons, easily overpowered the local youths providing security for the community and went from house to house, shooting sleeping residents.

He added that many of the people who were killed were slaughtered on their beds, while some who managed to escape from their houses were either mowed down or shot at as they tried to escape into the bushes with gunshot wounds.

A member of the community, Adams Ayuba, who spoke to NEWSMEN on Monday morning, said the attack came after a security alert had warned of an impending invasion, but reports to security agencies were not taken seriously.

The Fulani militias and their sponsors highly coordinated this attack. Though I don’t stay in the village, I was informed that a few days ago, there was a security alert following sightings of many Fulani people gathering around the outskirts of the village.

“Our people duly informed security agencies of the sighting, but instead of dispatching personnel to the village, the security operatives did nothing of such. The bandits invaded our village last night (Sunday), going from house to house and killed well over 20 people.

“I also heard one of our youths, a police officer who attempted to fight back, has been missing. We don’t know if he was killed, kidnapped, or had managed to escape,” Ayuba said.

Another member of the community, Patience Ibrahim, wrote on social media, saying she lost four family members in the attack.

“My in-laws were killed in this very attack. Four people in the same family were killed in one house. God, this is too much. And people are supporting these evil acts for their selfish political interest! May this same evil visit you and wipe out your entire clan.”

The Plateau State Police Command and the Joint Task Force Operation Enduring Peace, OPEP, are yet to release official statements on the attack at the time of this report.