• Friday, March 29, 2024
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Jukun/Tiv crisis: Seven killed, 12 villages burnt in Gov. Ishaku’s LG

Attack

 

At least seven people were reportedly killed and eleven villages burnt on Saturday in the ongoing Jukun-Tiv crisis in Takum local government area of Taraba State.

Takum is the hometown of Governor Darius Ishaku and retired Gen. T.Y Danjuma.

The latest attack on Ikyergba village near Takum occurred while the governor was holding a peace meeting with Tiv stakeholders at the Exco Chambers of Taraba Government House in Jalingo.

The governor had on Friday held a similar peace meeting with the Jukun stakeholders.

The discussions in the separate  meetings were not made available to the press but a source privy to the meetings told our correspondent that lasting peace between the Jukuns and Tivs was top on the agenda.

An eyewitness James Akirga told our correspondent on Sunday that Jukun militia in their numbers attacked the village at about 3am, killing seven people and setting the entire village ablaze.

“We were home when suddenly we started hearing gunshots from different directions.

“Some of us managed to escape, but the attackers killed seven people and set the entire village of about 45 houses ablaze. This is the fifth time in less than a week that Jukun militia are attacking our villages,” he added.

He said that some of the attackers were dressed in military uniform, while others were in plain clothes. “When they were done with the damage and were retreating, I sighted a military Hilux van from my hideout driving out of the village, I was not really close to it so I couldn’t get the registration number of the vehicle or identify its occupants,” he said.

Akirga named other villages that were burnt within a period of two weeks in the area to include: Tse-Ajayi, Akenawe, Tortsee, Mhambe, Agoor, NKST Jato, Imande-Ade, Lijam, Akesa, Tse-Yange and Kasuan Haske.

When contacted, Police Public Relations Officer in Taraba, ASP David Misal said he was not aware of any attack in the area.

“For now I am not aware of any attack and nobody has communicated such information to me,” he said.

As at press time the chairman of Takum local government Shiban Tikari, was not available for comments, as he neither picked his calls nor replied to a text message from our correspondent.