Residents of four communities in Nasarawa State have cried out for help over incessant attacks by suspected herders.
The affected communities located in the Karu Local Government Area of the State are Gwanja, Angwan Bege, Angwan Madaki and Gidan Allah, dominated by Gwandara, Mada and Yeskwa tribes,
This came as the State government supervised the mass burial of over 38 killed in the wake of the attack. The victims were primarily women and children killed by the suspected herdsmen in the Takalafia and Gwanja rural communities of the Karu Council of the State.
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The State Deputy Governor, Dr Emmanuel Akabe, who led a government delegation to supervise the mass burial, condemned what he described as senseless killings and wanton destruction of properties estimated at millions of naira.
The Deputy Governor, who lamented the mindless killings and destruction, said the government was worried about the situation as it pledged to do everything possible to ensure peace in the State.
Akabe assured that the state government would provide relief materials to the displaced victims, even as he encouraged the communities to give credible information to the relevant authorities to enable them to fish out those behind the killings.
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It will be recalled that the Pastor in charge of Evangelical Church Winning All, ECWA, Rev. Daniel Danbeki and others, were murdered in the attack last Thursday night and early hours of Friday, 12 May.
The Chairman of Karu Council, James Thomas, who visited the affected communities before the mass burial, also condemned the attack.
Represented by his Deputy, Lawal Karshi, he appealed for calm and vowed to ensure that the perpetrators were arrested and made to face the wrath of the law.
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A source close to the communities, who pleaded anonymity, informed our correspondent that the attack resulted from a disagreement between the farmers and herders, who grazed on the farmland of locals, allegedly destroying crops (groundnut and maize) belonging to the farmers in the area.
According to the source, “Disagreement ensued when the farmers asked the suspected Fulanis to take their animals out of their farmland when one of the suspected herders brought out his cutlass and started attacking the farmers.”
