Linus Oota, Lafia
Atleast 17 victims slaughtered by herdsmen in Tiv villages in the Southern Senatorial Districts of Nasarawa state were yesterday given mass burial amidst tears.
About seven of the victims were buried at the Christian cementary in Lafia while 10 got buried in mass grave at Keana, headquarters of Keana Local Government Area of the state.
Our correspondent gathered that those who were buried in mass graves are the ones whose lifeless body have started decomposing at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital mogul in Lafia as a result of the matchet cut on their body.
The marauding herdsmen, have in the coordinated attacts in five days running, killed no fewer than eighty Tiv villagers.
President Tiv Youth organization in Nasarawa state, comrade Peter Ahemba told journalists in Lafia that the leadership of the Tiv community in Nasarawa state was left with no option than to bury the victims outside their places of abode against the Tiv tradition as the gun wielding herdsmen were still laying siege in the Tiv deserted villages unhindered.
According to him “We were left with no option than to bury the victims outside their places of abodes (Lafia and Keana) the Tiv villages have all been sacked and the invaders are still occupying most of them so we could not afford risking more lives in going to bury those victims in their places of abode as demanded by our (Tiv) tradition
“This is moreso that the corpses had already started decomposing at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist hospital Lafia due to congestion at the hospital mortuary” he said
The Tiv youth leader further explained that apart from those buried enmass yesterday, many other victims had earlier been buried at different locations across Awe, Keana, Obi and Doma Local Government Areas of the State, even as search for the recovery of more casualties was ongoing in the affected communities.