Taraba indigenes go to war with Fulani herdsmen

• Over 73 killed, 50 villages burnt, 3,000 Fulani displaced in one week

There are indications that indigenes of local communities in Taraba State have in about the past one week taken up arms to engage the Fulani herdsmen in confrontational war, leading to collateral damages on both sides.

Over 73 persons were said to have been confirmed dead and about 50 villages burnt in renewed hostilities involving Fulani herdsmen and Yandang communities in Lau Local Government Area,  Taraba State.

National Daily gathered that Taraba State Chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Sahabi Mahmoud, on Friday, lamented in Jalingo that over 23 Fulani who are members of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria have been killed in the renewed violent confrontation with the locals which began on July 5.

Alhaji Sahabi Mahmoud decried that over 3,000 Fulani have been displaced, pointing out that displaced victims include mainly women and children. He said that they fled the area and currently taking refuge at the Muslim Council Secretariat in Jalingo and other neighbouring local government areas.

Mahmoud had bemoaned that it was “unfortunate” that since the displaced persons arrived the Muslim Council in Jalingo, no government official had visited the camp or provided any relief material to the victims.

On the other divide, an elder of the Yandang community, Mr. Aaron Artimas, was gathered to have admitted that over 50 people in Yandang and other tribes in the area have been confirmed dead in the conflicts.

Artimas had recalled that the Hausa-Fulanis, Yandang, Mumuye, and Yoti, and other tribes in the zone had been living in peace as brothers and sisters without problems for centuries before the Fulani herdsmen violent upsurge.