OVER thirty persons have been killed and many others injured following an attack by suspected herders on a farming community in Munga Lelau of Karim Lamido Local Government Area of Taraba State.
The incident followed a mutual suspicion between farmers and herders as to the whereabouts of their cattle. This led to attacks and counterattacks by neighbours who have lived for decades as one entity.
The victims were given a mass burial within the community as their tradition demands for anyone killed during a crisis.
Unlike another attack, which claimed two lives in the Bandawa community after a farmer confronted the attackers for encroaching on his farm with their cattle, eyewitnesses say these assailants came on motorcycles. They shot sporadically and set some buildings in the village ablaze.
The attacks took place over the weekend in the North-Central state.
Residents say they have lived peacefully for decades with the Fulani tribe and alleged that it’s a case of compromise by security agencies and masterminded by their neighbours.
One of the affected residents, Alpharis Philemon, described the incident as disheartening.
”It is something that we never expected. The whole people of Munga are heartbroken. From time immemorial, we lived in peace with the Fulanis, and no one can actually tell you what led to this ugly situation,” he said.
”We do not have a history of conflict between Munga and the Fulani. In my observation, it is an issue of land grabbing. The rainy season has started, and whenever there is a crisis, our people cannot go too far, and they’ll use their farms for grazing.
”The security is compromised and I can say this without any fear or contradiction because Munga Lelau and Karim, the headquarters of Karim Lamido, is just a seven-minute drive. So, if there is an incident, we expect the security to have responded.
”For more than two hours, the military did not come to our rescue. I think the military and the police have questions to answer.”
Chairman of Karim Lamido local government area, Bitrus Danjos, who could not hold back his tears and was assisted out of the mass burial scene, described the incident as barbaric.
He wondered why victims did not seek redress in the court of law but rather took the law into their own hands.
According to him, his local government area shares a porous boundary with five states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Nasarawa, and Plateau, which makes them susceptible to attacks by bandits.
He said many people have already been displaced and are seeking succour from the government and non-governmental organizations.
The Taraba State Governor, Agbu Kefas, in a press statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Digital Communication, Emmanuel Bello, described the attack as horrendous and unacceptable.
Governor Kefas warned that the aggressors would suffer great repercussions going forward, even as he reiterated his commitment to continue to secure the state from external attacks and other forms of aggression.