How family of 4 were killed by militias on the wake of Taraba council poll

The Tiv community in Taraba state was thrown into mourning yesterday as a family of four; husband, wife, their 9 year child and a cousin were hacked to death by militias.

The gruesome killings that took place in the wake of the just concluded council election was also said to have inflicted various degrees of injuries on the people of Tse Juku village of Donga local government council where the attacks took place.

Angered that the state government has not been able to stop the killings between the Tiv and Jukun ethnic groups, some Tiv leaders urged the Federal government as well as the international community to as a matter of urgency, wade in by providing adequate protection for their community.

Briefing journalists yesterday in Jalingo, the leaders who converged under the umbrella of the Tiv Cultural and Social Association (TCSA) urged the international community and the FG to immediately fashion out plans that would protect them against the “unlawful agenda designed to exterminate them from the state”.

Led by the President General, Chief Goodman Dahida, they observed that the state government during a meeting in Lafia referred to Tivs as criminals and terrorists. They said they couldn’t fathom the reason behind the gruesome murder of a seven months pregnant woman, who was killed in her house at Jalo in Takalafia ward of Bali local government and till date, the attackers have not been arrested.

He added that since 1st April, 2019, their villages in the entire southern part of the state as well as Gassol and Bali in central senatorial district have been under sustained coordinated attacks, leaving several people dead and property worth millions of naira destroyed whilst thousands have been placed in internally displaced persons camps (IDPs) in the state.