Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen on Friday evening attacked and killed 20 people in the Yangtu Development Area and Ussa Local Government Area of Taraba State, local sources told our correspondent on the telephone.
A youth leader and public affairs analyst, Mr. Ure Caleb, told our correspondent that more than 20 people were killed in separate attacks on communities in Ussa local government and Yangtu Special Development Area.
Chairman of Ussa Local Government Council, Mr. Peter Shamwun, told journalists that the gunmen attacked and killed nine people in Rubur Ribasi, Nyicwu, and Ruwah Communities of Yangtu Special Development Area around 6pm on Friday.
Shamwun said the bandits laid siege along the Takum- Ussa Road, killing more people, adding that the bandits also attacked the Kpambo Yashe community in Ussa Local Government where one person was killed.
The chairman appealed to Governor Agbu Kefas and President Bola Tinubu to urgently intervene and deploy security to the area to flush out the bandits.
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.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Usman Abdullahi, said the incident was still under investigation.
Our correspondent reports that attacks on Ussa, Takum, and Yangtu communities have been ongoing for over two years and the Commanding Officer Ada Barracks Takum was killed in an ambush by the bandits last year in Takum Local Government.
