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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Bloodbath in Benue as Fulani herdsmen, Tiv clash claims 50 lives |
| 2014-03-25 |
| [SUNNEWSONLINE] Fresh hostilities between Fulani herdsmen and Tiv youths claimed 50 lives at Gbajimba, the Guma Local Government Area headquarters in Benue State, yesterday, even as a youth body, Northern Youth Leaders Forum (NYLC), claimed that about 3,300 youths may have been killed by Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... in the North. Sources said that the crisis which is regarded as the bloodiest so far, has left several casualties on both sides with heavy shootout still raging in the besieged town at press time. Women and children were still fleeing to nearby villages and Makurdi, the state capital, for safety. Eyewitnesses said that the suspected Fulani invaders who stormed Gbajimba early Sunday morning were repelled by armed Tiv youths who engaged them in a bloody fight, a development that made them to regroup and relaunch a stronger attack in the afternoon. "They came in large 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 flee. "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 coppers in Gbajimba are helpless because we have less than 50 officers and men on ground in the station and this attack has completely overwhelmed them. "As I speak to you, serious fighting is still going on in Gbajimba, about 55 persons may have been killed on both sides because corpses litter the invaded communities. Many of our people are also missing at this moment. "But from the look of things, if security personnel do not quickly mobilize into the town, the invaders may succeed in completely taking over the ancient 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," sources said. When contacted, the police front man, Daniel Ezeala a superintendent, said he was yet to be briefed on the development adding that, "we are still monitoring and we will brief you as soon as possible." Meanwhile, ...back at the wrecked scow, a single surviver held tightly to the smashed prow... a non-political organization, Northern Youth Leaders Forum (NYLF), has attributed the high rate of insurgency in the North, particularly in the North-East to lack of good governance, non-challant attitude of stakeholders, low level of education in the region to squarely address the first and subsequent insurgencies. |
| Posted by:Fred |