An atmosphere of fear currently reigns in Nasarawa State as four communities currently under attack by suspected herders have cried out for help, saying they were under siege.
The affected communities located in Karu Local Government Area of the state are Gwanja, Angwan Bege, Angwan Madaki and Gidan Allah, dominated by Gwandara, Mada and Yeskwa tribes,
This came as the state government, weekend, supervised the mass burial of over 38 killed at the wake of the attack. The victims were mostly women and children killed by the suspected herdsmen in Takalafia and Gwanja rural communities of Karu Council of the state.
The state deputy governor, Dr. Emmanuel Akabe, who led government delegation to supervise the mass burial, condemned what he described as senseless killings and wanton destruction of properties estimated at millions of naira.
The deputy governor, lamented the the mindless killings and destruction, said government was worried about the situation as it pledged to do everything possible to ensure peace reigns in the state.
Akabe assured that the state government would provide relief materials to the displaced victims, even as he encouraged the communities to give credible information to the relevant authorities to enable them fish out those behind the killings.
It will be recalled that the Pastor in-charge of Evangelical Church Winning All, ECWA, Rev. Daniel Danbeki and others, were murdered in the attack last Thursday night and early hours of Friday, May 12.
Chairman, Karu Council, James Thomas, who visited the affected communities prior to the mass burial also condemned the attack.
Represented by his Deputy, Lawal Karshi, appealed for calm and also vowed to ensure that the perpetrators were arrested and made to face the wrath of the law.
A source close to the communities, who pleaded anonymity informed our correspondent that the attack was as a result of disagreement between the farmers and herdsmen, who grazed on the farm land of the local allegedly destroying crops (groundnut and maize) belonging to the farmers in the area.
According to the source, "Disagreement ensued when the farmers asked the suspected Fulanis to take their animals out of their farmland when one of the suspected herders brought out his cutlass and started attacking the farmers."
He said that the farmer overpowered the Fulani snatched his cutlass and fought back leading to death of the Fulani.
It was further gathered that the incident occured in Gwanja community, near Takalafiya, two weeks ago and the authority of Karu Council intervened and the matter was settled amicably, only for the suspected herders to regroup and attack Gwanja community, killing four on May 11, 2023.
Another source from the community, claimed that the herdsmen on discovering that some residents of Gwanja community fled to Takalafiya, they (herders) allegedly launched another attack on the community and killed more people on May 12.
"In the early hours of Friday, the people of the community were thrown into panic when they discovered strange dog roaming the streets of Takalafiya, with huge charms round its neck, they community mobilised and killed the dog.
"After they succeeded in killing the dog, as they clustered around the dog wondering where it came from, the herdsmen started shooting sporadically around the community and killed several people," the source said.
Youths condemn reprisal killings in Karu
Meanwhile, the Nasarawa State chapter of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, NYCN, yesterday, condemned Friday's reprisal attacks.
Reacting to the development at Keffi (Nasarawa State), Mr Jaafar Loko, Chairman of NYCN in the state expressed shock and sadness and called for thorough investigation to fish out those behind the murders.
He commended the state government for its proactive measures to curtail the situation and called on youths and residents in affected communities to not take laws into their hands.
He enjoined residents to allow security agencies to carry out detailed investigations to unmask those behind the killings."
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Police begin investigation
Meanwhile, the Police Command in Nasarawa said it had begun investigation into the murder of 15 persons at Tarkalafia and Kwaja villages in Karu council of the state.
In a statement by the commant spokesman, Ramhan Nansel, yesterday, said: "The Command on May 11, 2023, at about 2200 hours received information that one Jibo Ali, was attacked by unidentified persons while on his way to Kwaja village, Gitata in Karu LGA.
He said that Police operatives attached to Gitata Division raced to the scene and rushed the victim with machete cut on his head to Na-Allah private hospital, Gitata, where he died while receiving treatment.
"Sequel to the above, information was received that Tarkalafia and Kwaja villages were later attacked," Nansel said.
Nansel said the Commissioner of Police, Maiyaki Baba had deployed police operatives comprising mobile police personnel and counter terrorism unit to the area.
