By Admin
Over 40 persons are feared dead, several houses razed and over 300 cows missing as fresh crisis erupted on the Mambila plateau in Taraba State between Saturday night Sunday.
The crisis largely affected Yelwa and Mesamari villages in Sardauna Local Government Area of the state.
The police, however, put the figure of the dead at four.
The renewed crisis was said to have started on Thursday from a dispute over a land.
The dispute was said to be between nomadic Fulani and the people of Mambilla in Yerimaru village.
It then quickly spread into neighbouring villages.
The Police had earlier confirmed five people killed in Thursday’s violence, which was between the Fulani and Mambila people.
The Public Relations Officer of the Taraba State Police Command, ASP David Misal, confirmed the development.
Misal, however, said only four persons died.
He said more policemen have been despatched to the area to bring the situation under control.
The Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku, who spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Emmanuel Bello, called for an end to the violence.
Ishaku said: “Anyone who takes any life, irrespective of religion or tribe, is a criminal; whether it is on the summits of Mambilla or the plains of Southern Taraba and anywhere in this state.
“And we shall deal with them as criminals.
“We are committed to an amicable resolution of the crisis in the state and peaceful co-existence of all ethnic nationalities.”
Ishaku attributed the renewed crisis to “disagreement between two ethnic groups”.