Again, Herdsmen Kill Four in Taraba

Wole Ayodele in Jalingo

For the third day running, no fewer than four people were killed by herdsmen at Kokotye village, outskirts of Bornon Kurku in Bali local government area of Taraba state.

The victims, whose names were given by the Tiv traditional ruler in Bali, Zaki David Gbaa as Joseph Agabo, Adama Kwaghzee Agabo, Ayem Joseph and Myom Agabo are children of the same father.

According to the Ter Bali, the herdsmen invaded the village which is a Tiv settlement at about 7pm on Friday and killed the family of four.

Condemning the attack, Gbaa said it was highly unprovoked and has led to an exodus of people from the community to Kungana as well as Dan Anacha in Gassol local government area.

He called on the federal government to act quickly and decisively to put a stop to the killings going on across the country, saying it is undermining peaceful coexistence in the country.

According to him, “As we speak, more people are leaving the area for safety for fear of attacks. I want to call on the army operatives of Exercise Ayem Akpatuma to arrest the situation before it gets out of hand.”
“The Divisional Police Officer of Bali has since moved to the area, he is not yet back so we don’t know the security situation in the area now”, he lamented.

Also confirming the attack, chairman of Bali local government Council, Danladi Suntai noted that the attack was a reprisal of the killings in Donga local government where Tiv and Fulani fought each other.

In his words “A Fulani man who was shot at Donga fled and died in Pasa in Bali local government. I quickly summoned the Fulani Ardos and appealed to them not to allow the crisis to spread to Bali since the Fulani man was shot in Donga.

“Despite my efforts, I was surprised when I was called that four people were killed late last night. The DPO has relocated to the area and he is going to make massive arrest until we get those that carried out the attack,” he said.

The Police Public Relations Officer, David Misal could not confirm the incident but gave assurance to do so as soon as he’s briefed.