At least five persons lost their lives and three others have been hospitalised following renewed attacks between the Jukun and the Tiv in Wukari local government area of Taraba state, Hon. Daniel Adi Chairman of Wukari LGA told our correspondent.
This latest attack came barely four days after the Deputy Governors of Taraba and Benue met in Wukari and issued a communique for the resolution of the two weeks old crisis.
Adi told our correspondent that four persons were still missing and several houses were burnt in an attack at the outskirt of Wukari on Friday morning.
Local residents who spoke to our correspondent said there was an attack on Ikyaior village (a Tiv community) by suspected Jukun militia which led to the reprisal on a village near Wukari on Friday morning.
In a related development, the Parish Priest of All Saint Pastoral Area, Ikyaior, Rev. Fr. Livinus Orji, has decried the looting of the church property by Jukun youths who he said attacked Ikyaior on Friday.
Orji told BusinessDay that he personally met the youths who carried some of the church’s property and his personal belongings into Wukari and pleaded with them to give him the items but they refused, saying it was their share of the loot in the crisis.
“I saw some of them coming into Wukari from Ikyaior around the General Hospital with my Gas cooker, AC, dining chairs, mattresses, doors and so many other things they carried from the Parish house and I pleaded with them to give me my property but they refused,” the Priest said.
“I told them I am a priest and the crisis was not a religious crisis neither am I a Tiv man, but they ignored me. I want to call on the government to quickly intervene and bring an end to this crisis,” said.
“The Parish is grounded now and cannot function. So, I want to call on government to support us to recover our lost property,” he said.
A former Special Adviser to the Governor, Orbee Uchiv, who hails from Ikyaior, told our correspondent that over 100 houses were either burnt or vandalised in Ikyaior.
According to him, 50 computers from his school were carted away and the entire school blocks razed by the attackers, who invaded the village from Wukari.
The Police Public Relations Officers, David Misal, confirmed the attack, but said he was not aware of casualty figures, saying he was waiting for briefing from the DPO of Wukari.
