The Moment (London)
John Shiaondo
2 December 2011
Makurdi — ABOUT 79 persons were killed in a fresh clash between nomadic Fulani herdsmen and Tiv farmers in border communities in Benue and Nasarawa states.
Property worth millions of naira were also said to have been lost in the renewed clash, with over 2000 displaced persons already swelling camps in Kadarko area of Nasarawa State and about 350 declared missing.
Eyewitness account said the clash was sparked by Fulani herdsmen purportedly on revenge mission over what they called unsettled grievances in previous attacks.
The herdsmen were said to have launched an early morning assault on Dooga, Kpata, Lokobi, Ajimaka, Ekeae, Giza, Yogbo and Mbgawem border communities in Benue State, and thus, caught residents unawares.
Consequently, many residents of the Tiv communities who tried to escape from the violence were caught in the ambush laid by the Fulani herdsmen. Many were said to have been killed, and their houses and property were also burnt.
The eyewitness said the herdsmen disappeared into the thin air after the attacks, but security forces said they were on top of the situation.
Residents of the border communities are in fear that the Fulani herdsmen have continually defied heavy security presence in the border communities and were advancing towards Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
One of the displaced persons, Mr. Terker Akise, alleged that the nomadic herdsmen were assisted by hostile ethnic groups, including Alago in the Nasarawa and Benue states’ borders.
He said, for example, residents of Doma town in Nasarawa State recently attacked Tiv settlements at Kpata, Donga, Lokobi and Ajimaka, adding that over fifty persons were killed, with farm lands, houses set ablaze.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Alaribe Ejike, confirmed the incident, but said official report reaching their office showed that only five persons were killed in the clash.
However, the Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, David Iorhemba, who briefed newsmen after his return from the scene of the incident, said both the Benue and Nasarawa state governments must seek immediate solution to the perennial violence between the Fulani herdsmen and the Tiv farmers in the border towns.
He decried the level of destruction, stressing that both state governments must act fast to prevent further loss of lives and property.
The Speaker, who also visited the camps of the displaced persons, said he was disappointed and worried that the crisis had persisted despite efforts by both the state governments to end it.
According to him, both states had, earlier in the year, set up a joint committee to look into the problem and find a solution to the crisis between the Fulani herdsmen and their Tiv host communities. He described the situation as a sad one, because it has become a yearly occurrence.
‘This crisis is coming at a time people residing in these areas, who are predominantly farmers, are harvesting their crops. The harvest season has started, but quite unfortunately, the farmers in the areas have been displaced; their farms and homes have been completely destroyed with children and women suffering more than any other group,’ the speaker stated.
He said he was, however, unhappy with what he called seeming laxity on the part of the Nasarawa State government in assisting the displaced persons, noting that, ‘while the Benue State government and his humble self have made concerted efforts to provide relief materials, such as food items and beds, for the displaced persons, their Nasarawa State counterpart have not responded to plight of the victims in communities in their state.’
Recent attacks between the Fulani nomads and their Tiv hosts have affected border communities such as Zongo Akiki, Nyijir, Tse Taki, Agbeke in Guma and Makurdi areas in Benue State and Eke and Giza areas in Nasarawa State.
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