Taraba: Monarch, 7 villagers killed in savage herdsmen attack
Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
at least eight persons are confirmed dead and several others
severely injured by savage herdsmen who attacked villages around Danacha
in Gasol local government area of Taraba state on Monday.
One of the deceased, Chief Hembaor Baki, who was the chief of Angwan
Hembaor, was killed alongside his wife and two children on their farm,
while four others were killed in the neighbouring Dinya village, also on
their farm.
An eyewitness, Mr Benjamin Orakaa, who spoke to Daily Sun from
Danacha, said that the tension in the area was too much for the people
to move in to ascertain the actual number of deaths. k
aki Hembaor was with his wife and two children on the farm this
morning when they were attacked and killed, and four other persons were
killed on another rice farm in Dinya where they were also farming.
Several persons have been rushed to Danacha with severe injuries,” the witness said.
“For now, the herdsmen are still there shooting everywhere and
people have deserted their homes and everything to run for their dear
lives; so we can not even go back there to know how many persons are
dead. We have only recovered these four bodies so far,” he said
Orakaa said that so far security operatives manning checkpoints in
the area remain on their duty posts and other security vehicles have
been seen on the highway, yet shooting in the villages have continued
unabated.
Chairman of Gassol local Government Council Hon. Yahuza Yaya’u confirmed the attack in the area but said no life was lost.
“Nine people, mostly women, were badly injured and we are making efforts to take them to the hospital,” he said.the
problem started in Dongon Ruwa and six women and three men were badly cut at the point of death, but no life was lost.
However, another eyewitness, Mr Terkimbi Tahav, who said he escaped
death by the whiskers, told Daily Sun on the phone that he and others
were in the farm at Dinya village in Gassol local government when nine
armed Fulani men riding on three motorcycles came and forced them out of
the farm.
“One of them told us that the land we were farming on was sold to
them by the village head of Kwararafa (Dekechin Kwararafa), Alh.
Ibrahim Isah,” Tahav said, recalling the incident.
“We were shocked and tried to resist their attempt to chase us
out of our farm, but they started attacking us with cutlasses and we ran
for our dear lives. it was when we were running for safety that we discovered four of
our relations dead on their farm. They had killed them earlier before
proceeding to attack us.
“It’s only God that some of us are alive to tell our story,” said the witness.
The state Police Public Relations Officer ASP David Misal said he was yet to be briefed on the attack.
Herdsmen had only last week attacked a minor seminary in Jalingo,
where they shot a priest, as part of a sustained attack on mostly
farming communities across the state and region.