Gunmen Kill 1 As Group Demands Urgent Security Action In Taraba

A Tiv youth, Mr Stephen Terkaa Terkuma, was on Sunday shot dead by gunmen, suspected to be militiamen while riding a motorcycle from Amadu to Takum in Takum local government area of Taraba State.

The development, which is the latest in the series of attacks on locals, has sparked renewed calls for urgent security intervention in the rural areas of the state.

The killing, which occurred at Tor-Tser village in Chanchanji ward, heightened fears among the people over persistent attacks on rural communities across the Takum axis.

The president of the Southern Taraba Youth Coalition for Peace (STYCOP), Ambassador Rikwense Muri, who reacted to the incident in a statement issued to newsmen, described the killing “as part of the sustained pattern of violence rather than an isolated incident.”

The statement titled “Enough is Enough: A People Under Siege Cannot Be Silent,” warned that silence and weak responses from the state government and security agencies over time were emboldening perpetrators.

According to Muri in the statement, communities inhabited by Tiv and Kuteb people, including Kpashimbe, Muji, Tati, Chanchanji, Amadu and Tor-Tser, have continued to experience killings, sexual violence and armed attacks.

It said, residents now live in constant fear, while some other farmers have abandoned their means of livelihoods for safety.

The statement called on authorities to rise above issuing routine press statements of condemning the action, without taking decisive action to end the frequent attacks on the people.

Muri further called on the Taraba and the federal governments to declare the Takum axis an area of security emergency, and urged security agencies to move beyond reactive deployments to dismantle criminal networks responsible for the attacks.

The STYCOP also appealed to political leaders at all levels to prioritise the protection of rural communities and to ensure those behind the violence are brought to book.

The group, however, said the late Stephen Terkaa Terkuma was a valued member of his community, raising serious concerns about public safety and governance in Takum and environs.

Confirming the incident, the public relations officer of the state police command, ASP Victor Mshelizah, said the deceased, alongside two other persons, who were on a motorcycle, were ambushed by a militia gang.

Unfortunately for Stephen Terkaa Terkuma, he did not make it from the ambush, while the two others escaped unhurt.

ASP Mshelizah said, “Efforts are being made to apprehend the suspect (s), one person is confirmed dead as of when I was filled in.”