NO fewer than 38 residents of Takalafia and Gwanja communities in the Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State have been reportedly killed by bandits who stormed the area recently.
The Pastor-in-charge of the Evangelical Church Winning All in the area, Rev. Daniel Danbeki, and 37 others were gruesomely murdered by the assailants during the attack which lasted from 9 pm on Thursday night till the early hours of Friday.
However, a mass burial was held on Saturday for the victims of the attack which included women and children.
The deputy governor of the state, Emmanuel Akabe, led a government delegation to the mass burial which was conducted amid tears from sympathisers and other members of the communities.
Speaking during the mass burial, Akabe condemned the wanton killings and destruction of property worth millions of naira.
He expressed shock over the killings and assured that the state government will investigate the cause of the attacks and bring the perpetrators of the dastardly act to book, adding that relief materials will be provided for displaced people in the area.
Earlier, the Executive Chairman of Karu LGA, James Thomas, who visited the attacked communities before the mass burial, completely condemned the attack by the herdsmen.
Thomas, who was represented by his Deputy, Lawal Karshi, however, appealed for calm and vowed to work closely with the security agencies to arrest the perpetrators of the act in order for them to face the full wrath of the law.
A source told our correspondent that the attack was a result of a disagreement between a farmer and a bandit who took his cows to graze on a groundnut and maize farm.
The cows completely ate the crops which angered the farmer, leading to a fierce battle between him and the bandit.
“As the farmer was talking to the bandit to send his cows out of his (farmer’s) farm, a fierce disagreement ensued and the bandit brought out his cutlass and started fighting the farmer; but the farmer overpowered him, snatched his cutlass and fought him back, and the bandit died.
“This was what led to the killings of residents of this area by the bandits,” a source said.
As of the time of filing this report, dead bodies of victims who escaped with bullet wounds during the attack in Takalafia and Gwanja communities are still being recovered from bushes in the area, and are taken to the mortuary of the Federal Medical Centre in Keffi LGA of the state.
Efforts made to reach the Nasarawa State police command to get its reaction on the incident through the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ramhan Nansel, proved abortive as he did not respond to calls put across to his mobile lines.