Not fewer than seven travellers were killed at about 7:23 am by unknown gunmen suspected to be bandits at Sai village along Takum Wukari road in Taraba State.
The bandits that attacked the vehicle containing nine passengers emanated from a forest near the Sai village on motorcycles, carrying guns and machetes. The bandits while killing the travellers asked a woman and her baby to run from the area.
Those that were killed in the vehicle include a secondary principal, Mr. Samuel Mbapuun, (Tiv) Mr. Abba Yusuf, Registrar of College of Health Technology Takum (Jukun), a non-academic staff of the College identified as Gembo, the driver of the vehicle and three others.
Sai is a Tiv community at the border area of Katsina/ala from Benue State and Takum from Taraba State.
The bandits after killing the seven passengers also proceeded and attacked farmers who were working close to where the seven passengers were killed, nine farmers were also cut with machetes by the bandits.
LEADERSHIP gathered that immediately after the attack at Sai village, irate youths suspected to be Jukun from Takum town started rioting, alleging that the killers were of Tiv extraction, and three persons were reported killed at Wukari junction within the Takum.
It was also reliably gathered that most people fled the town for fear of being attacked.
A farmer who is also a victim of the attack, Mr Iorapuu Pila, who spoke to our correspondent on the phone, said the bandits came out from the forest located near Sai village along Takum Wukari road to attack the vehicle that was conveying the passengers from Takum to Wukari at about 7:23 am on Monday.
Pila who is currently recieving treatment at a hospital in Sai said himself and others were working on their farm close to where the incident occurred.
Though the PPRO denied knowledge of killings in Takum, she said, “One group of the people in Takum was accusing the other of being behind the killings of the travellers; that was the tension, though it been put under control.
Meanwhile, Taraba State governor Agbu Kefas and the Independent Peace Committee (TIPC) have expressed deep concern over the killing of seven passengers on Takum Wukari road on Monday, noting that the attack includes all the major tribes in Taraba State.
Governor Kefas in a statement released by his special adviser on Media and Digital Communications, Mr Emmanuel Bello said he has received with deep sadness the attacks on innocent passengers on the Takum-Wukari axis that led to deaths of several persons.
“I condemned the attacks and am going to ensure that the perpetrators do not escape justice. The governor reiterates his resolve to rid the state of all acts of criminality and violence,” he said.
Also, in a press statement signed by the chairman TIPC, Prof Talla Ngarka, he said the relentless attacks and killings have plagued the Takum/Wukari and Takum/Katsina-Ala roads, resulting in the tragic loss of innocent lives, and kidnapping of many in recent times.
“This attack comes only a few weeks after the brutal murder of the Gara of Chanchanji, a respected traditional ruler, on the same road. These consistent and coordinated acts of violence have left the communities in the area in the state of fear and despair,” the chairman TIPC, Prof Talla Ngarka stated in his statement.
“We strongly condemn these senseless killings and call on the governments of Taraba and Benue States to urgently collaborate and take decisive action to address the insecurity that has become rampant in these areas.
“The safety of our citizens should be the highest priority, and both state governments must work together to restore peace and order.
“We demand increased security presence and intelligence gathering along these roads to prevent further attacks,” he added.
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