Some masquerades invaded a church (name withheld) in Shikal village of Langtang South Local Government Area of Plateau State, on Sunday, flogging worshipers as well as the Pastor.
Apart from flogging the worshippers and the Pastor and generally disrupting the service, the masquerades were also said to have destroyed the Church’s musical equipment.
The masquerades reportedly arrived the Church while service was ongoing.
A witness said the church members were awe-stricken over the action of the masquerades, although some members of the unnamed church tried to resist the assailants, they were overpowered and beaten to a stupor, while others fled to safety but later gathered to salvage what was left of their properties.
Lamenting the tragic incident, one of the victims, John Nanpor, noted that so far, nothing is known as to why the masquerades carried out the attack.
Calling on security agencies in the state to do the needful, Nanpor said: “This has been the practice here for quite some time, especially during their yearly masquerade festival. We are pleading with security agencies to assist us in order to avoid breaking of law and order.”
Elders of the village are said to be making efforts to get to the root of the matter in order to restore normalcy.
However, the State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Alfred Alabo confirmed the incident but gave no details.
He said, “The DPO of the area has confirmed that it is true, they are working on the situation and the area is calm. He said masquerades went to a Church and disrupted their activities. The investigation is ongoing, we will give full details when we have them.”
