At least 25 people have lost their lives as fighting between Eggon youths and Fulani intensified on Tuesday, August 26, 2014 in Alingani-Fadaman Bauna, Lafia East council development area of Nasarawa State.
The feud was said to have started after cattle belonging the Fulani herdsmen had encroached on farms belonging to the Eggon people.
The irate youths had launched an attack on a mosque, killing 3, injuring many others and burning houses belonging to the Fulani.
The latest clash, according to a report by Daily Sun, has left 100 Eggon refugees, mostly women and children, who have fled their homes and had to be transported to Dalhatu specialist hospital in Lafia, the Nasarawa state capital.
Daily Sun reports:
Two Eggon indigenes, Musa Idris and Aisha Sule, said: “We cannot continue to stay in that community again because the Fulani have already taken over the entire community and there is no security man there to protect us.
“As we are talking to you now, our houses have been burnt by the attackers and our farms have been destroyed by the Fulani. The policemen that came to the area to rescue us were overpowered by the Fulani herdsmen in the area.”
An witness told our correspondent that the casualties were more than 25, adding that their corpses were dumped in a bush. He said the fight broke out when the Fulani herdsmen encroached on farmlands belonging to the Eggon.
When contacted on telephone, the state Secretary of Mayetta Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Alhaji Mohammed Hussein, said 25 Fulani people were killed by Ombatse militia.
He said: “Our leaders from both Eggon and Fulani communities in the state must not allow youths to set such a violent social agenda for us. So, we are calling on our leaders, the government and security agencies to halt this lingering violent aggression.” The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ismaila Numan, said the Police took the three injured persons to the Dalhatu Araf
Meanwhile, tension is now high Lafia, the state capital and its environs as burning of houses in the out skirt was going on unabated as security personnel consist of soldiers, police and other security agencies were seen patrolling major area in Lafia and its environ people were seen running helter scatters for their dear lives and for fear of spill over of the crisis to their areas..
