No fewer than six persons have been allegedly killed with scores injured, following an attack on a farming community by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Maihula, the Bali Local Government Area of Taraba State.
The attack which occurred on Sunday targeted Mararaban Azagwa and Alele villages.
According to the PUNCH, a resident of the area, Mallam Isah Abdul stated that trouble started when a Fulani man who was suspected to be drunk with alcohol and high on drugs, and was always sighted at the Maihula market was found dead on his way home.
Narrating the details of what led to the attack, Abdul said, “It is an unfortunate development. The relatives of the deceased who later recovered his corpse accused the Tiv villagers where the man died of being responsible for the death of their brother.
“There was nothing actually to point at as the fact that led to the death of the man. He might have probably died from complications arising from the alcohol and the drugs he took.
“But his relatives who suspected he was killed by the Tiv villagers mobilised and started attacking and killing people.”
The Chairman, Taraba State Tiv Traditional Council, Zaki David Gbaa, said six people were killed and four others were left in critical conditions in the hospital.
Gbaa identified those killed to include: Aondohemba Salemkaan, Tersuugh Dondo, Terkuma Mbatim, Kumaga Ujam Asaaga Nev and Tersoo Memga.
The Tiv leader who condemned the attack, however, commended the security agencies for their quick intervention, which helped to calm the situation.
He expressed confidence that the attackers would be arrested by the security agencies and prosecuted, especially because “all of them live within the community and could easily be identified.”
The Taraba State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Gambo Kwache, who confirmed the attack however disclosed that only two corpses were recovered by the police
Gambo noted that no arrest has been made so far but assured that the security operatives were combing the area in search of the attackers.
