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3 killed at Jootar as Tiv/Junkun crisis resurfaces

Godwin Akor, Makurdi

No fewer than three persons were reportedly killed in the early hours of Wednesday, in Jootar, a boundary settlement between Benue and Taraba states.

The perpetrators of the crime were alleged to be Jukun militia.

An eyewitness told our correspondent that Jukum militia allegedly stormed the boundary community at about 4:00a.m, through Wukari and started shooting sporadically.

He said the latest attack came without any provocation, stressing  that at least three  farmers lost their lives while over 100 houses were burnt.

Speaking further, the eyewitness said the Jukum militia allegedly operated unchallenged for about  3 hours even as  federal government special forces were stationed in Wukari, few Kilometres away from the affected community.

Commenting on the ugly incident,Caretaker Chairman for Ukum Local Government Area, Mr. Tortyokaa Ibellog, condemned the attack,  saying it was most unwarranted.

 He wondered why the Jukum militia would cross over to Benue where there was no crisis, insisting that Tiv farmers in Benue were  not at war with the Jukum.

“To the best of my knowledge, this is supposed to be a crisis between the Tiv and Jukum in Taraba state and has nothing to do with Benue; in my state Benue, we have Jukum in Abintse and Wurukum in Guma and Makurdi local government areas respectively living peacefully with the Tiv people,” the caretaker chairman noted.

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He called on President Muhammadu Buhari and heads of the Nigerian Army and Nigeria Police to, as a matter of urgency, intervene in the crisis, urging them to bear in mind that both Nigeria and Benue State are trying to maintain a social distance to curtail the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic which has affected the entire world.

Confirming the incident, Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Sewuese Anene, said three corpses were recovered from the scene of the incident and that investigation was ongoing.

A former member of the House of Representatives from Ukum, Logo and Katsina-Ala, Barr. Emanuel Udende, said the crisis would not have been about boundary as that was settled when he was chairman of Ukum council in 1997.

The two time member of the House of Representatives said it was possible that miscreants on both sides were causing the problem between the two ethnic groups.

He said peace has to be embraced to enable the two sides go back to the drawing board, maintaining that the final solution lies in the Tiv and Jukun  tolerating one another.

It would recall that Jootar was attacked last year by suspected Jukum militia where four persons were allegedly killed.

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