Nasarawa LG Imposes Curfew As 3 Die In Farmer-Herder Clash

A clash between farmers and herders has claimed three lives in Karmo community, Toto local government area of Nasarawa State.

Following the incident, the council chairman, Ahmed Baba Yahaya, imposed a curfew in Karmo and the surrounding areas after a security meeting with traditional rulers and security chiefs.

Yahaya directed security personnel to enforce the curfew

A source told LEADERSHIP yesterday that the incident, which occurred last Wednesday, led to the destruction of property, including houses and motorcycles.

The dead include a woman and two men.

According to the source (a council official), the woman was working on her farm when some cattle strayed and began eating her crops.

She reportedly confronted the herder, who told her there was nothing she could do about it.

“Following a heated argument, the herder attacked the woman with a machete on the head. She collapsed and died,” the source said.

He said that when they heard of the incident, some youths mobilised to the Fulani settlement, where a fight broke out and left two more people dead.

He added that herders later went to the community in retaliation, setting fire to houses and other property. Many motorcycles were burnt on both sides, he said.

He said the measure was necessary to prevent hoodlums from taking advantage of the crisis to cause further unrest.

Meanwhile, the state government has urged residents of Karmo to remain calm and not take the law into their own hands.

The appeal was made on Saturday by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Labaran Magaji, SAN, who visited Karmo to offer condolences to the victims’ families and assess the damage. He condemned the attack, describing the initial clash as avoidable and the subsequent reprisal as wholly unnecessary.

Magaji said the deaths were a painful loss for the entire community and assured residents that the government was monitoring the situation and would not abandon those affected. He added that his own community had also suffered deadly clashes.

He said he was conveying a message from Governor Abdullahi Sule to the victims’ families. The Toto Local Government Area chairman and the council’s chief security officer were already holding a peace meeting with all parties involved, he said.

Magaji added that Sule had sent a high-level team to assess the crisis and determine what assistance those affected needed. He urged well-meaning citizens to provide humanitarian support rather than politicise the situation.