Herdsmen: Fresh attacks in Taraba leave many dead

About 55 people have been reportedly killed in Lau Local Government Area of Taraba State by suspected herdsmen.

It was gathered that the attacks began during the weekend with mass burial reportedly organized for 25 of the victims on Tuesday, while more bodies were recovered on Wednesday morning.

Bala Abu, media assistant to the governor, was said to have visited the affected area with security personnel taking over the area.  “Herdsmen are killing people in Lau, my state,” Darius Ishaku, governor of the state, was quoted as saying on the telephone.

Earlier on Wednesday, Wole Soyinka, Noble laureate, voiced out over the killings, saying herdsmen have declared a war on the nation.

Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, held an emergency meeting with local hunters in his state to prevent attacks.

In Benue, suspected herdsmen have killed at least 80 people in this year alone.

Recall that no fewer than 50 persons including nine members of the Benue State Livestock Guards were killed in coordinated attacks on Tom-Atar and Umenge, Akor villages in Guma, Governor Samuel Ortom’s home town and Ayilamo, Turan, Ngambe-Tiev in Logo local government areas of Benue state by suspected herdsmen.

The attacks on the communities which started late New Year’s Day continued to the early hours of Tuesday living several persons injured, many homes razed several persons unaccounted for and thousands of people fleeing their ancestral homes.

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Similarly, suspected Fulani herdsmen again attacked Benue State on Monday, killing two policemen on surveillance in Logo Local Government Area of the state while injuring another.

The attack occurred on Monday at the camp of a Mobile policeman, Mopol 13, stationed at Awashuwa village.

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The herdsmen were said to have slit the throats of an Inspector and a Sergeant at a nearby bush in the area before burning down houses.

Already in a bid to forestall further attacks, the Federal Government on Monday redeployed the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris to Benue State while also meeting with the governors.