Several Feared Dead In A Renewal of Taraba Violence

 

 

Ethno-Religious violence has once again erupted in Wukari, where at least a half dozen residents in the Taraba State region are feared dead in weekend violence. In a story that continues to unfold, SaharaReporters has learned that numerous residents feared killed in the violence, an undetermined amount of property damage has occurred in the town with what some residents in Wukari have called a renewal of ethno-religious tensions.
Lawal Sambo, a resident of Wukari, told a SaharaReporters correspondent, including a reporter at PREMIUM TIMES, that he has taken refuge, including several other local residents, in the bush just outside of town. In addition, Sambo said that trouble began after an armed group of Junkun youth had attacked the Sabon Gari, and the Kantana wards, including the market area. The market area is a district that is populated largely by Hausa speaking residents.
 With smoke clouding the sky and fires raging across the small city, Sambo had said, “as we speak, almost the whole of Sabon Gari has been burnt down.” Attacks in the area began just after dawn, beginning, some residents said at around 7:30 am Sunday morning.
Suleiman Adam, another Wukari resident who spoke on the record, had said that “no one is sure” what touched-off this latest round of violence. Adam did say that a Hausa youth, who operated a GSM call center at Sabon Gari, had reportedly “a misunderstanding” with a Jukun youth late Saturday afternoon. By the late evening on Saturday, that very same shop was set on fire and razed.
“But that incident was not a serious enough event (to touch-off this latest round of violence,)” added Suleiman Adam. He did add in further discussing the current series of events that, “many believed the misunderstanding had been settled.”
The violence is now said to have spread to other areas, including Rafinkada, a nearby town. Violent incidents have been reported in Ibi, but it is not clear if the round of violence there is related to events in Wukari.
Also troubling, and an area of concern is that some of the youth taking part in sporadic violence were seen in military uniforms. Joseph Kwalji, a police spokesman of the Taraba Command, confirmed the violence racking the local area, but was short on details about fatalities, and property damage.
Kwaji did tell reporters on the scene that both local police, including the Army have since been deployed in Wukari, and other local towns, and are working 24-hour shifts to restore calm.