The Pandemonium that broke out, yesterday, on Makurdi-Lafia-Abuja expressway when Tiv farmers in Guma and Makurdi Local Government Areas barricaded the road to protest what they described as ‘unwarranted killing of farmers’ by suspected Fulani herdsmen claimed 27 lives.
Also in the fracas, 17 people were allegedly abducted by the herdsmen who reportedly came to Tse-Madugu, Iortim and Tse Antee in Guma and Makurdi LGAs at 5am.
Meanwhile, commuters plying the ever-busy highway were stranded as no vehicle was allowed passage into and out of Makurdi, the capital for more than five hours, just as youths were burning tires on the road. The situation caused traffic jam and paralysed commercial activities.
The protest started as early as 7am when farmers in their thousands, men, women, as well as youths, blocked the high way at the Agan toll gate, Court 5 area and the Ortese community along the express way, insisting that no vehicle would transit until governments come to their aid.
The protesters were chanting the popular Tiv demonstration song “ishima yam ngi awambe awambe” meaning ‘we are angry and our hearts are filled with blood’. They had placards some of which read “Are we not from Benue? “Why are Fulanis Killing Us” “Our Governor is Inactive” among others.
LEADERSHIP reported that though the protesters did not dispossess travellers of their belongings, burn cars or kill, it was gathered that the demonstration snowballed into a tragedy when soldiers allegedly killed one of the protesters and also shot sporadically in the air to disperse them.
One of the leaders of the protesters, Mr. Mathew Mnyam, said that they had resorted to protest because “27 of our members were killed by the Fulani herdsmen and soldiers and 17 were also abducted. Even at this time, we do not know whether they have been killed or are still alive. Three are seriously injured and they are hospitalised. And so we call on government to come to our aid.”
The commissioner of police, Mr. Kakwe Chris Katso who paid a visit to the affected areas confirmed the protest but did not ascertain the number of deaths.
He said “I went to clear the road; I am yet to receive any reported case of death.”
The CP denied allegations that men of the command were among those that unleashed terror on the Tiv farmers, describing the situation as untrue and said men of the command were deployed to the crises areas to maintain peace.
Follow GistaNigeria on Twitter @GistaNigeria and Facebook GistaNigeria
TK's Blog | Free Forex Signals | Infotech Arena Tech News |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Add A Comment