Twenty persons were slain by gunmen who were thought to be herders on Friday night in Taraba State‘s Ussa Local Government Area and Yangtu Development Area, according to local sources who spoke with our correspondent over the phone.
Our correspondent was informed by Mr. Ure Caleb, a public affairs analyst and youth leader, that over 20 individuals lost their lives in two distinct attacks on communities within the Ussa local government and Yangtu Special Development Area.
Around 6 p.m. on Friday, the gunmen assaulted and killed nine persons in the Rubur Ribasi, Nyicwu, and Ruwah Communities of the Yangtu Special Development Area, according to Mr. Peter Shamwun, the chairman of the Ussa Local Government Council, who was briefed by journalists.
Shamwun said that several people were slain when the bandits besieged the Takum-Ussa Road. He also claimed that one person was killed when the robbers stormed the Kpambo Yashe hamlet in Ussa Local Government.
In order to drive away the criminals, the chairman pleaded with President Bola Tinubu and Governor Agbu Kefas to act quickly and send security personnel to the region.
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.
“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 narrowly escaped death during the attack told our correspondent that the attackers also killed one person at Tukwog Community, along 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.
Our correspondent reports that attacks on the Ussa, Takum, and Yangtu communities have been ongoing for over two years, and that last year in Takum Local Government, the Commanding Officer Ada Barracks Takum was killed in an ambush by the bandits. The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Usman Abdullahi, stated that the incident was still under investigation.