BIAFRA NEWS: Again, herders sack Taraba community, slaughter five

 

Since the beginning of the rainy season, communities in Taraba State have witnessed scores of unrests between herders and farmers who have continued to fight.

Scores of displaced persons were still taking refuge in public places in Bali council as at the time of filing this report, following the crisis in their community.

Some prominent persons who earlier bared their minds to  on the crisis and series of killings in the state identified the lukewarm attitude of the state government to the violence.

Among such prominent persons includes the state chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Sahabi Mahmood Tukur.

In a recent interview with , the state chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Sahabi Mahmood Tukur lamented the “deliberate” failure of the state governor to carry herders along.

A situation he says has relegated herders whom he described as bonafide “indigenes of this state” to the background.

There are speculations by residents of affected communities that the police was not doing enough to salvage the situation.

They say despite claims of working against criminals by the Police, hoodlums have continued to have field days.

A top-ranking officer of the force who confided in  appeared to affirm the speculations, saying “in the areas of logistics, the Taraba state government is doing nothing to assist us in arresting the situations.”

Five persons have reportedly been killed in Takum local government council of Taraba despite efforts by security operatives to bring an end to the ongoing fracas between farmers and herders in Bali local government council of the state.

The killings which occurred on Sunday, at Ukoo Abaa village, few meters from Kofai Amadu village in Takum, was said to have been carried out by herders against farmers.

A source from the community who claimed he narrowly escaped the scene said apart from the five persons who were gruesomely murdered by the herders, several other persons were inflicted with various degrees of injuries.

Lamenting that the need for the state government to end the killing can not be overemphasized, he said his uncle and the daughter were not spared the herders’ attack as they were also killed.

Another source who also reached out to our correspondent said the herders took the community “unawares”, a situation, which according to him, did not only lead to the killings but also led to the disappearance of several persons.

The ongoing killings in Takum council is coming a few hours after the leadership of both Tiv and the Fulani reportedly agreed to a ceasefire in a recent peace accord,  reports.

Ukoo Abaa, a border community between Taraba and Benue States, as at the time of filing this report was said to have been deserted by the people for fear of further attacks.