A one year old girl, her parents and a brother were on Monday night shot dead in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, when unknown gunmen invaded their home.
The girl, Peace, her 10-year old brother, Nuhu and their parents were shot at close range when the gun men forcibly entered their home at Chaha village in Vwang District of the local government, shooting sporadically.
One other member of the family, 14-year old Alice was injured and is now hospitalized.
Sources said the family was about to retire to bed when they heard a noise and the subsequent hacking down of their door with a machete.
The head of the family, 42-year-old Iliya Yakubu, his wife Lyop and two of their children were said to have died before help could get to them as their assailants, whose motive was not immediately known, waited to ensure that they had no chance of survival.
A survivor, Patience told journalists that they did not know their parents and other family members had been killed until an uncle came around to discover their bodies.
“When they came I heard one of them calling my brother’s name. They were using something to break the door and when they eventually had entry, I tried to hide behind the door, but they shot at me. My elder sister hid behind the wall at the back of the house and was lucky not to be shot”, she said.
Police spokesman, Emmanuel Abuh confirmed the incident adding that investigations had begun to track down the assailants.