Herdsmen has denied their involvement in a recent suspected bandits attack which has left nine Tiv farmers killed in Gidan Sule community in the Keana Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
According to The PUNCH, the event took place on Saturday when the gunmen, who were armed with AK-47 rifles, attacked the neighborhood and started shooting at the locals.
Nine people were said to have died as a result of the shootings, while women and children who managed to flee with gunshot wounds were still missing.
The President of the Tiv Development Association in the state, Peter Ahemba, on Monday, said five corpses were recovered on Sunday morning and later that day, four other corpses were recovered from a bush in the community.
Ahemba lamented the “persistent unprovoked attacks” on his kinsmen in recent time.
He said, “After the Saturday attack on the Tiv people at Gidan Sule village where three people were killed by gunmen, I can confirm that on Sunday morning, six other corpses were recovered from the bush and more dead bodies have yet to be discovered.”
Reacting, the state Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Bala Muhammed-Dabo, said he was not aware of the killing of any Tiv farmer by his tribesmen.
He said, “I do not know if any Tiv person was killed. I only heard that a Fulani man and a Fulani woman who were on their way for grazing were recently attacked and killed by some gunmen and they have been buried according to Islamic rites.
“I have warned my people not to take the law into their hands; government is on top of the situation and I will not support anyone who looks for trouble.”
As of the time of filing this report, efforts to reach the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ramhan Nansel, proved abortive, as he did not respond to calls put across to his mobile lines.
