Four people were killed by bandits in Gudum Village, Mangu Local Government Area, Plateau State.
According to village residents, the attack took place on Sunday night.
The assailants’ objective was the village’s ward head, whose home was set on fire and his wife and children kept hostage while he fled the scene.
However, the intervention of the personnel of Operation Safe Haven following a distress call forced the assailants to flee from the scene after killing four persons, all of them males.
Governor Caleb Mutfwang in a statement by the Director of Press and Public Affairs, Gyang Ber condemned the attack and directed security agencies to apprehend the perpetrators to face the full wrath of the law.
The governor sympathised with the affected families as he described the attack as barbaric and unacceptable where women and children were trapped inside two rooms and were rescued by security personnel.