Suspected herdsmen kill six villagers in Taraba community

At least six persons were reportedly killed and scores injured following attack on a farming community by suspected herdsmen.

The attack that occurred on Sunday targeted Mararaban Azagwa and Alele villages all of Maihula in the Bali Local Government Area of the state..

A resident of the area, Isah Abdul, told our correspondent on Monday that trouble started when a man who was drunk and high on drugs he took at Maihula market was found dead on his way home.

“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 to the fact that the man was killed. He might have probably died from complications arising from the alcohol and the drugs he took.

“But his relatives, who suspected that he was killed by the Tiv villagers, mobilised and started attacking and killing people,” Abdul said.

The chairman, Taraba State Tiv Traditional Council, Zaki David Gbaa, who briefed journalists in Bali on the development, said six people were killed and four others are 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 to calm the situation.

He expressed confidence that the attackers would be arrested by security agencies and prosecuted, especially that all of them live in the community and could easily be identified.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Gambo Kwache, who confirmed the attack in a telephone interview, however said only two corpses were recovered by the police

Gambo noted that no arrest has been made so far, but security operatives were combing the area in search of the attackers.