55 die in fresh Fulani/Tiv clash the bloodiest between Tiv youths and suspected Fulani mercenaries at Gbajimba, the headquarters of Guma Local Government Area of Benue State. As the battle raged in the besieged town, women and children fled to nearby villages and Makurdi, the state capital, for safety. This latest offensive came on the heels of the recent sacking of Tse Ortom-Adorogo, home town of the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, and supervising Minister of Aviation, Dr. Samuel Ortom, after Governor Gabriel Suswam’s convoy was attacked on that axis by the invaders. Nigerian Pilot gathered that the suspected mercenaries stormed Gbajimba yesterday morning but were repelled by armed Tiv youths who engaged them in crossfire. “They came in their numbers very early this morning from Awe Local Government Area of Nasarawa State and made an attempt to seize the town and the local government secretariat but they were confronted by our youths who resisted them, forcing them to beat a retreat. “Just this afternoon, at about 1pm, they staged a more coordinated attack on the town, this time they came in their hundreds, shooting, burning down houses, huts and killing anything in sight. “The policemen in Gbajimba were helpless because they have less than 50 officers and men on ground at the station and this attack overwhelmed them. As I speak to you, serious fighting is still going on in Gbajimba and close to 55 people has been killed on both sides because corpses of the dead litter the invaded communities. Many of our people are missing. “But from the look of things, if security personnel do not quickly mobilise to the town, the invaders may succeed in taking over the town after sacking close to 100 villages in the local government area in the last few weeks. “Our fear is that if Gbajimba is allowed to fall into the hands of these marauders, it could be used as a launch pad to attack Makurdi which is just a few minutes’ drive from the ancient town,” a resident told Nigerian Pilot on phone. When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Daniel Ezeala, said: “We gathered that there is serious fighting in Gbajimba right now but I’m yet to get a formal briefing on the matter. I’ll let you have a clearer picture of the situation when I have it,” he said. Meanwhile, Benue State Deputy Governor, Chief Steven Lawan, has pledged that the people of the state would reclaim all their land currently being occupied by Fulani herdsmen. Chief Lawani, who spoke at a thanksgiving service organised by the family of the late Engr. Conrad Wergba, State Water Resources Commissioner at NKST Central Church, Wadata, in Makurdi yesterday, described the invaders as terrorists who took the peace-loving people of the state by surprise, adding that in collaboration with the Federal Government, the state would work towards pushing the invaders out of the land.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 11:22:51 +0000
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