Three people have reportedly been
killed, with houses and cars set on fire in a fresh outbreak of violence in
parts of Jalingo, Taraba state capital.
Trouble started after youth from
different ethnic groups clashed in the state capital on Sunday.
A senior government official revealed that suspected herdsmen had threatened to invade the town but security
personnel did not take the warning seriously.
The source said three persons
were killed during the attack.
Ibro Bala, a witness,said that ATC Kofai, an area largely populated by university students was
affected during the crisis.
“It’s actually a clash between
herdsmen and a tribe called Kona. It started about two months ago when the
herdsmen attacked them in their local communities,” he said.
“So yesterday, Kona youth went on
rampage in an area called ATC Kofai, at about 2pm to 5pm, the youth around
there started attacking all the people, burning houses that belong to them.
Many people were also killed while houses and cars were burnt.
“Security operatives came around
later around 7pm but the boys were still struggling, exchange of gunshot was
heard. About five or more cars were burnt down.”
Emmanuel Ishaku, another
resident, said a popular market in the area was also affected and people had to
leave for fear of retaliation.
“When I was passing on my way to
work, I saw a couple of cars that got burnt around Kasuwan Bera and Nuka,” he said.
“From what my eyes saw, there
were four cars burnt and then a couple of keke, like six of them were burnt. I
heard a couple of shops (inside Nukai market) were burnt and others remain
locked.
“I also saw a lot of people
trying to relocate, some packing their things out of the area out of fear of
retaliation.”
David Misal, police public
relations officer in the state, said that normalcy had been restored.
“Normalcy has returned already
since yesterday. We don’t have issues on ground at the moment. We were able to
arrest two people and we are working to get more of them who have one way or
the other been involved in yesterday’s crisis,” he said.
“The clash affected two
communities. The first case was a distress call where armed bandits were
sighted setting fire on a particular village at the outskirts of Jalingo town.
“Some group of youths took advantage of that to perpetuate
crime. They barricaded the roads in the city-centre, smashing vehicles and
trying to loot properties and that was what occurred.
“But the situation was put under
control immediately after we responded to the outcry.”
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