Five people have been reported killed at the hinter land of Bassa local government area of Plateau state, despite a dusk to dawn curfew imposed on the locality.
Secretary General of Irigwe Development Association, Mr. Danjuma Auta, in a statement said on Tuesday night, one of their villages, Chando-Zrrechi (Tafi-Gana) was attacked by suspected Fulani herders.
“Five people have been confirmed dead so far at Tafi Gana village of Miango District in Irigwe Chiefdom.
“This is apart from another son of Irigwe killed at Dong village in the evening of 16th August 2021,” he alleged.
However, in a swift response, the state chapter chairman of Miyyeti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Malam Nura Abdullahi, denied the allegation.
“We deemed it necessary to at this point swiftly condemn what we describe as outright violation and abuses of human rights, through discrimination, dehumanisation, genocide, ethnic cleansing and brutality by Irigwe warlords under the instruction of their warriors and leaders.
“We hereby observe and condemn the incessant attacks and killings of indigenous Fulani herdsmen in our ancestral home by the armed Irigwe bandits.
“Such a purported press statement sign by one Danjuma Auta Dickson alleging that Fulani had attacked and killed 5 Irigwe persons of Tafi Gana village on 17/8/2021 is false accusations,” he said.
Meanwhile Governor Simon Lalong has separately met with the leaderships of the Fulani and Irigwe people, where he sued for peace.
Lalong’s director of press, Dr. Makut Macham, in a statement said the governor expressed displeasure over the renewed killings.
“Governor Lalong at the meeting held at the Government House Rayfield Jos, frowned at the persisting clashes in Bassa LGA which has continued even till Tuesday night when five people were killed in Chando Zrrechi despite the dusk to dawn curfew still in place in the local government.
“During the separate meetings with the two groups held behind closed doors, the Governor expressed displeasure that there has been a lot of criminality in the area which has been given tribal and religious connotations that have snowballed into wanton destruction of lives and properties,” he said.
The Brra Ngwe of Irigwe land, HRH Rev. Ronku Aka, told the governor that his people are peace loving and accommodating, and willing to live in peace with others, including Fulani with whom they have coexisted peacefully for many years.
He said the issues causing friction are the persistent damage to their crops and attacks on farmers, who have been impoverished and rendered homeless.
