Tragedy unfolded in the early hours of Friday morning as herdsmen attacked Takalafia and Gwanja communities in the Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. The attack reportedly lasted from 9 pm on Thursday night until the early hours of Friday, resulting in the death of 38 residents, including the Pastor-in-charge of the Evangelical Church Winning All in the area, Reverend Daniel Danbeki. The attack also included women and children and left the community in shock.
The incident is believed to have arisen as a result of a disagreement between a farmer and a herdsman, which resulted in a fierce battle between the two. According to a source, the herdsman brought out his cutlass and started fighting the farmer after the farmer had requested that he remove his cows from the farm. The herdsman died during the altercation, and the herders purportedly carried out the attack on innocent residents of Takalafia and Gwanja communities in retaliation.
The deceased were laid to rest in a mass burial on Saturday amid tears from sympathizers and other members of the communities. Nasarawa state’s Deputy Governor, Emmanuel Akabe, led a government delegation to the burial and condemned the attacks while expressing shock over the killings and destruction of property worth millions of naira. Akabe assured that the state government will investigate the cause of the attacks and bring the perpetrators to justice. He also noted that relief materials would be provided for displaced persons from the area.
James Thomas, the Executive Chairman of Karu LGA, who visited the attacked communities before the mass burial, completely condemned the attack by the herdsmen. He appealed for calm and pledged to work closely with security agencies to arrest the perpetrators of the act so that they would face the full wrath of the law.
As the authorities continue to assess the situation, dead bodies of victims who escaped with bullet wounds during the attack in Takalafia and Gwanja communities are still being recovered from bushes in the area and taken to the mortuary of the Federal Medical Centre in Keffi LGA of the state.
Efforts were made to reach the Nasarawa State police command to obtain its reaction to the incident through the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ramhan Nansel, but proved unsuccessful as he did not respond to calls put across to his mobile lines. The incident is seen as another episode in the ongoing struggle between herdsmen and farmers, a conflict that has resulted in numerous deaths and displacement of people across the country.
