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No fewer than nine people were killed and over 20 injured following sporadic gunshot attacks on Tse Ugbaa village in Chanchanji ward, Tarkum local government area of Taraba State, a fallout of the incessant crisis between the Tiv and Fulani in the area.A church and an entire village with over 1,000 people were set ablaze at about 9:24am Sunday by suspected Fulani militants who tricked the security personnel drafted to the area by the state government.Most of the villagers and residents were said to have been at the various churches at the time the attacks occurred. A victim of the deadly attack, Mr. Shior Toryila, an eyewitness recounted, was indoors and preparing for the church service when he heard echoes of sporadic gunshots and discovered that over 200 militants who were fully armed had invaded the village.According to the eyewitness, the assailants sighted Toryilla and attacked him. Soaked in blood, following severe gunshot wounds he received on his left hand especially, he managed to stagger to seek refuge among his kinsmen where he eventually died before he could be taken to the hospital.According to Demekaa, another eyewitness who spoke with LEADERSHIP, “The assailants were fully armed and were shooting and burning houses, but there was no way one could deal with them because of their level of preparedness and hostility.�Mr. Atetan Dahida, who was taken to the police station in Takum for an official statement on the incident by the military personnel drafted to the area for maintenance of peace and order, confirmed to our correspondent that, so far, more than nine of the villagers had been found dead and several others were conveyed to Jonah Hospital in Takun with varying degrees of injuries.LEADERSHIP’s visit to Jonah Hospital indicated that one Mr. Iveren David, also of Tse Ugbaa, who was shot severally on his stomach was currently on danger list as doctors were battling to revive him.The police public relations officer, Mr. Ibbiam Mbasike, has confirmed the incident and pleaded for time to get more details from the DPO of the area. Riot policeman, 4 others die in JosMeanwhile, in a related development, about six people, including a riot policeman, were feared dead in two separate fracas at Barkin Ladi and Bassa local government areas of Plateau State.According to an eyewitness who does not want his name on print, trouble started at Miango village, late Sunday evening, when two young men, armed with knives at a festival celebrated yearly by the people of the locality, began a fight.When policemen drafted to the venue to maintain law and order arrested them, the situation however took a different turn. Other youths of the village trooped out en masse chanting war and solidarity songs. They went wild, damaging cars and burning whatever caught their fancy. In the process, a police station and a magistrate’s court at the heart of the village were burnt while two police officers were badly injured.The PPRO, Plateau State Command, ASP Samuel Dabai, who confirmed the report, explained that there was a fracas at an annual Irigwe cultural festival where youth numbering over 500 burnt down a police station and a court.The state governor, Jonah Jang, condemned the attacks. According to the special adviser on media and publicity, Mr. Pam Ayuba, the governor assured that his government would do everything possible to protect the lives and property of the good people of the state. Meanwhile, Members of the Military Special Task force (STF) in Jos, Plateau State have arrested three persons in connection with the murder of a Mobile police man attached to the security outfit during the disturbance in Ryom Local Government Area of the state on Saturday.Capt. Mdahyelya Markus, the Spokesman for the STF, confirmed the arrest yesterday in an interview with newsmen in Jos.The spokesman said the incident had gone beyond the killing of the policeman, adding that some members of the Lukere Fulani community also shot and injured a civilian on the leg.``The Fulanis, who killed the MOPOL, also shot a civilian on the legs. The civilian is now receiving treatment in a hospital. JTF kills 21-year-old student in KanoA 21-year-old student, daughter of Alhaji Lawan Mohammad Taura, was one of the two people shot dead Sunday night by members of the Joint Task Force on the outskirts of Kano metropolis. The incident took place around 7.30pm at a roundabout near Sani Abacha Youth Development Centre, Kumbotso local government area.Although spokesman of the JTF Lt Iweha said the killing was unintentional and was caused by a stray bullet when soldiers were attempting to gun down suspected members of Boko Haram, an eyewitness told our correspondent that the deceased lost her life when the JTF member opened fire on vehicles stopped at a checkpoint; the deceased was inside one of the vehicles attacked by the soldiers.According to the eye witness, a taxi driver was stopped at the checkpoint and one of the JTF members suspected a bag one of the passengers was carrying and said he wanted to thoroughly search the content. When the passenger attempted to disappear from the area, the soldier was said to have opened fire and the late Aisha was shot in the stomach. She was inside the vehicle along with her mother, her elder brother Abba who was driving the car, and her father, Mohammad, a director of personnel management in Miga local government Area of Jigawa State.Meanwhile, two gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect, who were arrested by members of Sheka community on the outskirts of Kano, were also killed in a crossfire with members of the JTF for alleged armed robbery. The suspects were killed, according to an eyewitness, after engaging members of the JTF in a gun duel. The JTF public relation officer, Lt. Col. Ikdichi Iweha, said that they were killed by a group of sect members who besieged the area in an attempt to save their own.According to him, the two alleged armed robbers were arrested by the people of Sheka, and, in an attempt to hand them over to the police, they were confronted by gunmen who then killed the arrested gunmen.He however denied that six people were killed by soldiers at Sabu Abacha Youth Centre.
