Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
After few weeks of relative peace, at least eight persons were feared killed in two separate attacks in Karim-Lamido and Gassol Local Government Areas of Taraba State.
Mr. Idi Mali, the Chairman of Karim Lamido Local Government Council, who confirmed the killing of five persons in Bailango community of the local government, said the gunmen numbering about 30 invaded the two communities and killed the village heads.
He said that the chairman of vigilance group and two other persons also lost their lives in the attacks.
This is even as three persons were killed in a renewed Jukun/Tiv crisis in Gassol Local Government Area of the state on Wednesday morning.
Mali said the attackers were suspected to be kidnappers on a retaliation mission as hunters in the area had killed a suspected kidnapper in the village and chased others away in an encounter over the weekend.
Local residents told our correspondent that the assailants also attacked Kirya village, a neighbouring community, forcing residents to flee.
Meanwhile, three persons were said to have been killed in a renewed Tiv/Jukun crisis in Dan-Anacha village of Gassol Local Government Area of the state.
Residents said heavy gun battle ensued between the Jukun and the Tiv in the village, following the renaming of the village from Dan-Anacha to Kwararafa by Governor Darius Ishaku, leading to the killing of three persons and burning of houses.
It was gathered that tension had been rising in the area since Friday last week over erection of signboard that changed the name of the town from Dan-Anacha, a Tiv village, to Kwararafa, a Jukun name, at a secondary school in the village on the orders of the state governor.
A resident, John Iorkyaa, told our correspondent that hundreds of people were fleeing the town to the neighbouring Sabongida and Tella towns in Gassol Local Government Area.
Iorkyaa said three persons were killed on Wednesday morning and houses, including the house of the Ter Tiv Gassol, Zaki Simon Erentsa, were burnt.
Police public relations officer in the state, David Misal, said he was yet to receive the brief about the incident, explaining that he had been out of network covered area and was just returning to town.
Caretaker chairman of Gassol LGA, Alhaji Yahuza Ya’yau, did not picked up his calls or reply to a text message sent to his phone.