Dare-devil gunmen on Tuesday defied the dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed by Taraba State Government and attacked Gidan Aku community on the outskirts of Wukari Local Government Area of the sate, killing no fewer than 50 persons and injuring many others.
The attackers, armed with sophisticated weapons allegedly came from Nasarawa State through the plains of Benue River and descended on their victims while the residents were asleep.
According to a lawyer in the community, 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 a country is this?” Agbu queried.
But as the dust began to settle, a contingent of soldiers and anti-riot policemen were drafted to Wukari community to contain the situation although most of the community members had deserted the area for fear of further attacks.
In the meantime, acting Governor of Taraba State, Garba Umar, has warned the people of the state to desist from politicising the current spate of violence and join hands with government in finding a lasting solution.
Addressing journalists, Umar said that the lingering insurgency in four local government areas of the state was not peculiar to Taraba but was a national crisis affecting no fewer than 15 states of the federation.
While regretting that the attacks have seriously affected the state, Umar announced the deployment of 50 more soldiers from Yola to assist the ones on the ground in quelling rising 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 on how 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.
“We remain committed to the security and well being of the public. Unfortunately some people are using these security challenges to achieve political goals. Security of our dear state is too sensitive to play politics with,” he said.
The Acting Governor sympathised with four women who delivered at the Mutum-Biyu refugee camp and promised that government would render free treatment to every victim of the attacks in the area.
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