Local sources revealed that on Friday evening, gunmen suspected to be herdsmen executed a deadly assault, which resulted in the loss of 20 lives in the Yangtu Development Area and Ussa Local Government Area of Taraba State.
Mr. Ure Caleb, a youth leader and public affairs analyst, shared with newsmen that more than 20 lives were lost in separate attacks on communities within Ussa Local Government and Yangtu Special Development Area.
Providing details to journalists, Mr. Peter Shamwun, the Chairman of Ussa Local Government Council, reported that at about 6 pm on Friday, gunmen attacked and killed nine individuals in Rubur Ribasi, Nyicwu, and Ruwah Communities of Yangtu Special Development Area.
Shamwun detailed that the bandits established a siege along the Takum-Ussa Road, leading to additional casualties. Furthermore, the bandits launched an attack on the Kpambo Yashe community in Ussa Local Government, resulting in the death of one person.
The chairman, in an urgent plea, appealed to Governor Agbu Kefas and President Bola Tinubu to swiftly intervene, deploying security to the area to eliminate the bandits.
He said, ‘Information available to me indicates that the bandits have laid siege along Takum-Ussa Road and other areas around Yantu to kill more people.’
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‘I do not know why the bandits have decided to concentrate in the area and have been operating freely without challenge by security operatives.
‘From where a man was killed yesterday evening in Ussa to the military barracks in Takum, is not up to a kilometre.’
‘The continuous attacks on the people have brought so much humanitarian crisis and food insecurity. My people are been attacked anytime they go to the farm. We are at the mercy of bandits. I want both the state and federal governments to intensify efforts to flush out the bandits.’
Mr. Yakubu Tinya, who escaped the attack by whiskers, shared with our correspondent that the attackers also claimed the life of one person in Tukwog Community along the Takum-Manya Road.
‘The attackers came in their numbers and simultaneously attacked separate communities around 6:pm, and killed scores of people. Some people were attacked right on their farms, some on their way back while, and some in their houses.’
‘I came face to face with death but God saved me. They attacked me and two of my siblings. One of us was killed. The attackers look like Fulanis, but some of them look like foreigners,’ Tinya said.
SP Usman Abdullahi, the state Police Public Relations Officer, mentioned that the incident is currently under investigation.
Africa Today News, New York, learned that assaults on Ussa, Takum, and Yangtu communities have been ongoing for more than two years. It was further reported that the Commanding Officer of Ada Barracks in Takum was killed in an ambush by the bandits last year in Takum Local Government.