The Police on Wednesday confirmed that the Fulani Militant Group, a terrorist organization known as the Fulani Herdsmen have killed at least 15 villagers and burnt down homes in Taraba state in a dispute over grazing rights.
The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, had on Tuesday, dispatched a detachment of Police officers to central Taraba State, following the attack by the herdsmen on Dori and Mesuma villages in Gashaka Local Government Area.
The Taraba State police spokesman Kwaji Joseph told AFP the incident happened on Sunday when the herdsmen stormed Dori and Mesuma in the Gashaka local government area.
“A group of people numbering about 20, suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, invaded and attacked Dori and Mesuma villages via Garbabi ward and burnt some thatched houses, forcing the villagers to flee into the villages of Mayo-Selbe and Sabon Gida for safety,” he added.
“Eight people were killed in Dori while seven were also killed in Mesuma.” Police have been drafted to the area to contain the violence and “normalcy has since returned to the two villages”, Joseph said, adding two people have been arrested.
Local media put the death toll higher, saying 44 people were killed and dozens of houses razed in the clashes. The attack is the latest in a long-running dispute over grazing rights in Nigeria after the group killed hundreds of the villagers in the Agatu community of Benue state.
The Commissioner of Police, Shaba Alkali, who spoke at the Police command’s headquarters in Jalingo, said that the herdsmen launched coordinated attacks on the affected communities.
He explained that they burnt some thatch houses forcing the villagers to flee into the villages of Mayo-Selbe and Sabon Gida for safety.
Mr Alkali called on residents in the state to report suspicious activities in their communities to security operatives.
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