Hyacinth Chinweuba
Suspected Herdsmen Thursday killed about 30 people in Taraba and Benue States.
They reportedly killed 25 residents of Jandeikyula village in Wukari local government area last night.
Taraba State police spokesman David Misal, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) , confirmed the attack and killings.
Governor Darius Ishaku said: “As I am talking to you, I didn’t sleep last night. At 1am, I was woken up by a distress call on another herdsmen militia attack.
“Fortunately, yesterday, the military from Takum came in to help.
They battled till this morning. They counted 15 bodies, some injured ones are in the hospital in Sondi,” Ishaku said.
Victor Iortim, an eye-witness, said the attackers, numbering over 200, were carrying “rifles and cutlasses.”
“I went to a neighbouring village and was returning home when I sighted them. They were numbering close to 200. They were Fulani militants. They were well armed with sophisticated weapons.
“I quickly hid in the bush. There was no way I could call home because there was no telephone network where I was hiding,” he said.
Chairman of Wukari local government, Daniel Adi, who also confirmed the attack, said “many people have been killed.”
Adi, who spoke to reporters on the telephone on his way to the area said: “I don’t have the casualty figure now. But many people were killed in the attack
“I am on my way to the place, I will give you the details after visiting the scene,” he said.
Special Adviser to Governor Ishaku on Students’ Affairs, Samson Tor-Musa, who hails from the area, confirmed the incident. He said 25 bodies had been recovered.
A former Special Adviser to the late Governor Danbaba Suntai, Orbee Uchiv, an indigene of Jandeikyula, said: “They invaded the village on Wednesday at 6pm and opened fire on innocent persons without provocation,” he said.
Uchiv said the number of deaths would have been more, but for the intervention of soldiers on patrol around the area who were coming from Gbeji, a neighbouring town in Benue state where the herdsmen killed four persons on Tuesday.
In neighbouring Benue State, suspected herdsmen killed five persons in separate attacks.
In Ukember- Agya, Logo Local Government area, two persons were killed by the militia at about 2 am during an attack on the farming community.
Chairman of Logo Local Government Richard Nyajo, said the herdsmen came heavily armed and ransacked the community, setting houses ablaze
In Agbobouhol, a suburb of Makurdi, the state capital, the attackers shot two people dead in broad day light.
Panicky Wadata residents fled the area in droves.
Police spokesman Moses Yamu confirmed the killings and said Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni had visited the place.
He added that a detachment of riot police had been deployed in the area
In Jande Ikyuran village, Lumbur Ward ,Ukum local Government Ares in Benue North East Senatorial District , three people were killed in an early morning attack.
Principal Secretary- General of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Benue state Comrade Boga Abuul said the invaders stormed the farming community located along Anyiin- Wukari road at about 5 am.
Abuul said the invaders surrounded Jande Ikyura village and set houses ablaze before shooting and killing those who attempted to escape.
He said many houses were set ablaze and property worth millions of naira destroyed by the herdsmen.
Police spokesman Moses Yamu said he was not aware of the killings in Jande Ikyura village.