Assailants kill one, sacked farmers in Taraba Community
Jethro Yerga, Jalingo
At least one person has been reported killed and several farmers chased out of their farms in Rafinkada Ward of Wukari LGA, Taraba State by yet to be identify assailants
Sources disclosed that the lifeless body of the deceased, identified as Mr. Tor Iorzaatsa, was discovered in his farm in the early hours of Wednesday, indicating he was killed the previous day
The incident, sources disclosed, had created panic in the area as farmers have deserted their farms for fear of unknown.
Mr Joseph Shater, younger brother to the deceased, told our reporter that Tor Iorzaatsa, was killed in his beniseed farm, along Wukari Rafinkada Road by men, the family was yet to identify
“We are taking refuge at the boundary here, but we do farm around our deserted homes in Rafinkada Ward of Wukari LGA since there are some security personnel around here.
“Unfortunately, today we wake up with a sad news. My elder brother did not survive to eat the fruit of his labour as you rightly heard
“We get to discover his lifeless body in his beniseed farm in the early hours of Thursday and from all indications, he was mercilessly matcheted and his lifeless body dumped by the assailant. Mr Shater added
The chairman, Tiv Cultural and Social Association, Wukari Local Government Chapter, Mr Aondowase Tar, who confirmed the killing, told our reporter that since the Tiv people of the area were displaced in 2019, the axis has become hiding shield for all manner of criminals who had continue to waste innocent souls
Mr Tar stated that several of such secret killings had happened in the area in the recent time and had been reported to security agencies, but the situation had continue unabated, forcing farmers, mostly IDPs taking refuge at the boundary between Taraba and Benue State, to abandoned their farms
He called on the Governor of Taraba State, Dr Agbu Kefas and stakeholders in the area to facilitate the return of displaced persons to dispel the killers whom he said, are wasting innocent souls, who are struggling to make ends meet in the present difficult times
Contacted, the Taraba State Police Public Relation Officer, SP Abdullahi Usman said, the police were yet to receive the report from Wukari Divisional Headquarters but would get back to the press as soon as he was briefed
