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.
