Herdsmen Kill Five in Fresh Taraba Attack

Armed herdsmen in the early hours of Thursday killed five people in the Donga Local Government Area of Taraba State.

The Thursday’s attack came less than 12 hours after armed herdsmen attacked and wiped out a family of four in neighbouring Takum, the hometown of a former Minister of Defence, Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, in the state.

An eyewitness, Mr. Henry Ianna, told our correspondent on the phone that the attackers, numbering over 30, invaded Utile community along Donga-Isha Road, and killed five persons.

“The attackers came in the early hours of today (Thursday) when people were still asleep and started shooting.

“The attacks have now spread to Shaakaa village and so far; five corpses have been recovered and the attacks are still ongoing as we speak.

“The casualty figure may rise as shooting are still going on. The areas under attack are still volatile, so we could not go into other places for fear of being attacked and you know the attacks began in the night when people were still asleep; so, there is a tendency that more bodies would be recovered,” he said.

Ianna added that hundreds of people were fleeing the troubled spots to Donga, the headquarters of the local government for safety.

The Chairman of Donga Local Government Area,   Nashuka Ipeyen, confirmed the attack to our correspondent but said he was in transit and would get back with details of the attacks and casualty figure when he arrived the local government headquarters.

The Police Public Relations Officer, David Missal, told our correspondent that he had yet to be briefed on the attacks but promised to get back to our correspondent, but had not done so as of the time of filing this report.

These renewed attacks in Taraba are happening despite the presence of Army personnel who are in the state on Operation Ayem Akpatuma to recover illegal arms and stem the incessant herdsmen and farmer’s clashes.

Two weeks ago, Danjuma had, during the maiden convocation of the Taraba State University, accused the Armed Forces of colluding with the armed herdsmen to kill Nigerians, urging the people to rise up and defend themselves.

The Punch