The city of Jos, capital of Plateau State was thrown in confusion and pandemonium on Friday morning following the killing of 14 people by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen while four others were killed in a reprisal attack.

Reports say the masked gunmen at about 9:00 pm on Thursday stormed Rukuba area of Jos North Local Government Area of the state and began to shoot sporadically  and in the process killed 14 people, with four other persons sustaining fatal injuries.

The assailants reportedly attacked the home of a famous woman in the area popularly called Mama-Kogi, killing her and members of her family who were identified as Blessing, Ruth, Jonathan, Cynthia and Majesty.

The Friday night attack prompted aggrieved youths in the community to mobilize and troop out en-mass in the early hours of Friday to protest the killings. During the protest, they reportedly burnt four cars, including a Hilux jeep belonging to the men of Operation Safe Haven.

The protests however turned sour when four other persons, two of whom were commercial tricycle operators ran into the aggrieved mob. They were killed and their tricycles reportedly destroyed and set ablaze.

The development degenerated and snowballed into  ethnic violence in the area. It later escalated to Gada-Biu and Akpata, where three other persons were killed. It has also crippled commercial activities around the city.

Although security personnel have showed up in the affected areas battling to quell the violence, there still is palpable tension and fear that there might be resurgence of the violence later in the day.

When contacted, the Media Officer of Operation Safe Haven in charge of security in the state, Major Adam Umar confirmed the incident, adding that the situation has been brough under control but declined comment on the number of casualties.