A clash between Kuteps and Fulani herdsmen in Ussa Local Government Area of the Taraba State, has led to the death of many residents.
Hopes that peace in the affected part of the state, usually bedevilled by all sorts of violence, have faded with the latest attack.
Though the real cause of the fight is yet to be known, a source said the Kutep are accusing Fulani herdsmen of killing and kidnapping their people.
This, he said, led to the attack on Fulani herdsmen at Kwe Sati Thursday. The fight, the source said, spread to Fikye town where many people were said to be killed.
The National President of Kutep Association, Emmanuel Ukwen, told Daily Trust in a telephone interview that many people from both Kutep and Fulani herdsmen sides were killed.
He said the area was deserted while the fight was still on and many residential buildings burnt down.
Daily Trust also report that the paramount ruler of Lisam Kwe, Ando Madugu, was attacked and his palace burnt by angry youth who accused him of taking side with Fulani herdsmen.
The chairman of Ussa LG, Abershi Musa, has resigned from his position on the allegation that the state government failed to take action over the killings of innocent people by Fulani herdsmen in Ussa.
Reacting to the incident, the Ussa branch chairman of Miyyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Alhaji Bello, said he would not talk on the matter until after the break of Ramadan Fast.
This is not the first attack on Taraba communities. In May, 2015, no fewer than 34 persons were killed in the crisis that erupted between the Tiv and the Kutep communities, bringing the death toll in the upsurge to over 70.
In the re-ignited Kerim-Lamido conflict, over 25 people were killed following a reprisal attack allegedly carried out by soldiers who had earlier lost nine of their men to unknown gunmen in one of the villages.
