18 killed In Taraba Tiv, Fulani Clash
More than 18 persons have been reportedly killed and many others missing in an ongoing violent clash between Tiv and Fulani in Sabon Gidan village of Dan Anacha, Taraba State. Sources said the crisis started on Saturday when two Fulani men were found killed in a bush, adding that this triggered their kinsmen to carry out reprisal attacks on Tiv.
“I counted about 20 people that were believed to have been killed early hours of today (yesterday). Many people, including women and children, are nowhere to be found,” the source said.
Also speaking on the clash, some family members of victims, who didn’t want their names in print, told newsmen that: “Soldiers who came in to calm the situation at Dan-Anacha brought five corpses from Bornu Kurukuru.
If we add the number of those who were brought in yesterday, it will bring to 18 the number of persons killed.
“The Army went back into the bush, we don’t know what they will bring again. Thousands of people are on the run for safety; there is tension in the whole village. We are pleading with the state government to provide security.”
Contacted, Taraba State police spokesperson, David Misal, confirmed the clash, saying more operatives had been drafted to the area to restore peace.
According to him, the police are yet to ascertain the casualty figure.
Reacting to the development, acting chairman, Taraba State chapter of Miyeti Allah, Ardo Adamu, condemned the renewed hostility, describing it as barbaric and unwanted.
He said the Fulani lost six persons in the attack, while many were injured, even as several of their houses and other property were razed.
He stated that Miyeti Allah was amenable to measures to bring lasting peace between the Tiv and Fulani in the state and urged leaders of both parties to stop utterances that could escalate the crisis.
On his part, the President-General, Tiv Cultural and Development Association, Mr. Goodman Dahida, said the renewed hostility was a plan by those who had confiscated the Tiv people’s land not wanting to vacate the lands for the owners.
“There has been a land dispute between the Tiv and some prominent persons in Dan-Anacha, they know that the only way to move the Tiv people out is to cause a fight between the Tiv and the Fulani,” he said.
