From Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
For most communities in Taraba State, rainy season heralds a nightmare. Nightmare in the sense that the season annually begets a number of unfortunate experiences such as herders’ attacks clashes over farmlands and flood, leading to death, grief and sorrow.
Since the commencement of present rains, many unpleasant things have happened in the state, the most recent being attacks on Borno Kuku and other communities in Bali Local Government, where many people were killed by Fulani herdsmen.
On May 13, 2021, while the villagers were at their farms in Utsua Daa and Baafada villages around Gazabu and Takalafia communities in Bali LG, armed herdsmen struck and killed six persons. Tyokua Ayoo, who lost his brother to that attack, narrated how the incident changed their world and filled their landscape with sorrow and pains, recalling that many villagers fled to Bali town: in bid to escape from harm, but not all of them survived the race to stay alive.
“We were in the farm when the invaders came in and started shooting. The attack on Utsua Daa village in Takalafia Ward where I live happened around 1: 00pm and two persons were killed, including my brother.
“When we started hearing gunshots, my brother asked me to stay at the farm while he rushed home to check on the children. Luckily for us, the children ran and hid themselves behind some trees while the confusion lasted. Unfortunately, they spotted my brother and shot him on the head. They still used cutlasses to mutilate his body, before they burnt down our home and everything we have worked for over the years.
“The attack came to us as a rude shock. We don’t have problem with the Fulani around this axis. We all have our separate farms and we respect our boundaries. For herdsmen to launch such ferocious attack on our people beats my imagination.”
While the attack was on, another set of herdsmen simultaneously attacked Baafada in Gazabu on Mambilla Road around 2:00pm claiming four other lives.
Theresa Kumanga, a victim of the invasion told Daily Sun that she could not think straight owing to the magnitude of lose she had suffered: “I was in the farm with my husband and children on that day but later went home to cook. Shortly after getting home, I heard some gunshots. Then everything went silent. I thought that, maybe, it was just hunters. I resumed my cooking.
“Unknown to me, what I heard was gunshots that snuffed out the life of fellow villager on the same road path that walked me home. I later gathered that the herders came across a man and his wife and shot the man to death, but left his wife.
“Then suddenly, I heard another round of gunshots amid screaming voices and desperate cries. The people started shouting that we were under attack; that we were under siege! It was then that I got a clearer picture.
“I rushed out of the kitchen, headed straight for the farm where I last saw my family. I would only realize later that that was a very wrong option, because this was the road to hell. The herdsmen were coming from that direction.
“How I managed to escape has remained a mystery to me, because I am very sure, they saw me. They saw me. I saw them too. I saw how they hacked down the poor unarmed woman and her husband. Their bodies were terribly mutilated but I just kept running and till I got to the farm.
“In this attack, at least four persons were killed while one person is still missing. Of course, there are several injured people, some of whom are receiving treatment at Santa Maria Catholic Hospital in Bali.”
By the next day, investigation indicated that two other fleeing people were killed along Yelwa to Jatau Road in what was clearly an ambush while three others were killed in Borno Kurku, on the border between Bali and Donga LGs.
“Within four days of continued attacks, over 50 people have been killed or are currently missing while scores were severely injured and displaced,” according to an eye witness account.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), David Misal, said: “Regarding the incident in Bali, the situation is now calm, records in our disposal indicated about 10 lives were lost. The Commissioner of Police has deployed additional police men to the area and normalcy is gradually being restored.”
A community leader in Bali LG, David Gbaa, said the Fulani herders responsible for the attack were from outside the state: “We have confirmed the names of 30 victims, who were killed and buried across the villages in Bali LG. We are still compiling the names of those found dead.
“Over 4000 people were taking refuge at the Tiv Traditional Council Hall, NKST Church, Legislative Hall and other locations in Bali town. The population of IDPs is overwhelming and there is no space to accommodate them. It just finished raining here, many of them have been under the rain all along.
“My greatest worry is for the children and pregnant women we have here. There is no food to go round. The situation is so pathetic. We have held series of meetings to check the escalation of the attacks and I am trusting God that peace will soon return to this land.
“In the interim, I want to appeal to government and spirited individuals to come to the aid of these displaced people and help solve the humanitarian crisis we have at our hand. Those displaced are going through tough times they sleep under rain. There are women who delivered new babies while they were running for their lives. It is this unfortunate. It is simply a nightmare.”