The bloodletting continues, gunmen kill 50 more people in Taraba

In apparent defiance of a dusk-to-dawn curfew, gunmen on Tuesday attacked the Gidan Aku community, on the outskirts of the troubled town of Wukari in Taraba, killing at least 50 persons and injuring many others.

This brings the combined death toll from two weeks of almost constant violence to 142.

The attackers, armed with sophisticated weapons, were said to have come from Nasarawa through the plains of the Benue River and descended on the community while its residents were asleep.

According to local lawyer, Luka Agbu, the “attackers were very hostile to us and did not spare even children or the aged.

“The attackers shot at people and burnt houses at the same time without any intervention by the security forces. We are helpless here and we plead with the Federal Government to deploy special troops to rescue us from this unfortunate and deadly attacks.

“Our people are being killed by gunmen, we are losing property on a daily basis. What kind of country is this?” Agbu queried.

A group of soldiers and anti-riot policemen were sent to Wukari to contain the situation although most of the residents had already deserted the area for fear of further attacks.

In the meantime, acting Taraba governor, Garba Umar, has warned the people of the state to desist from politicizing the current spate of violence and join hands with government in finding a lasting solution.

Speaking with the press Tuesday, Umar said the lingering insurgency in four local governments in the state was not unique to Taraba but was in fact, part of a national crisis spread across 15 states.

While regretting that the attacks have seriously affected the state, Umar announced the deployment of 50 extra soldiers from Yola to assist the ones on the ground in quelling the rising spate of violent attacks in the state.

“Information available shows that the insurgents came from Nasarawa State and they camped at the coast of River Benue close to Ibi”, the governor said.

“We have deployed 50 soldiers from Yola to add to the troops on the ground who were deployed from Serti and Takum and with a reasonable number of policemen on the ground, we hope the situation would improve.

“We have concluded arrangements to visit the internally displaced persons and render immediate succour to them. That is why we have dispatched 28 trailers laden with relief materials to the affected LGAs.

‘I have ordered that despite the curfew in Wukari, the General Hospital there should be open for the treatment of the victims of the crisis. The 24-hour curfew earlier imposed in the area had been relaxed and would be in force from 12 noon to 6 a.m.,” the governor said.