Suspected Fulani herdsmen kill 32 villagers in Nasarawa

Linus Oota, Lafia

Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen have again murdered over 32 Tiv villagers at different locations across the southern senatorial district of Nasarawa State in a series of well coordinated attacks.

The attackers are said to have carried out the attacks on the Tiv villages simultaneously across Awe, Keana, Obi and Doma LGAs of the north central state, leaving 19 others with severe gun and machete injuries.

As at the time of filing this report, over 10,000 Tiv villagers were said to be trapped along the Agwatashi-Jangwa road axis in Obi LGAs shortly after the marauding herdsmen sacked over 200 villages, including Uvirkaa, hometown of a serving Commissioner for Water Resources in the state, Barr. Gabriel Akaaka.

Our correspondent, going round some of the affected areas, gathered that about 15,000 fleeing Tiv villagers were stranded in streets of Lafia, the state capital.

Already, over 100,000 of them are taking refuge in different Internally Displaced Persons camps at Agwatashi, Aloshi, Awe, Adudu, Obi, Keana, Doma, Agyaragu, among other locations.

At the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH) in Lafia, where 8 victims are currently receiving treatment as a result of injuries sustained from the attacks, 5 corpses from the attack are interned at the morgue, 3 were later released by the police for burial.

Confirming the development to newsmen in Lafia, President Tiv Youth Organization Nasarawa State chapter, Peter Ahemba, said entire Tiv villages in the southern part of the state have been sacked, noting that most of the affected villages are being occupied by the invaders.

According to him “As I speak to you, 9 corpses of our people killed this morning by the Fulani terrorists in Wurji village of Keana LGA have just been recovered and brought to Keana town by the police.

“Last night, 7 of our people were killed in the coordinated attacks, with 11 others still missing at Kertyo and Apurugh villages in Obi Local Government.

“Last Saturday, we recorded 8 deaths from similar attacks in Kadarko area, four from Aloshi axis, one person from Agberagba, all in Keana LGA. Another six persons were shot at Imon village and were rushed to Obi General Hospital, as a result of which one of them later died. This is just few out of deaths we recorded within the last three days as a result of these senseless attacks,” the youth leader said.

Ahemba, reporting that the armed herdsmen were conveyed in trucks and brought into the state to carry out the attacks, said that it was clear that the incessant attacks on the Tiv people was no longer protest against any enacted law but rather a calculated attempt to exterminate the Tiv community of the state.

He appealed to international community to intervene in order to save the state and country from the current bloodbath.

Speaking to our correspondent, the Public Relations Officer of the State Police Command DSP Kennedy Idirisu confirmed the attacks but is yet to ascertain the number of casualties.