Yan Nigeria
One individual has sustained injuries, and sixty-two houses have been destroyed following an attack by suspected herders on farming communities in the Bali Local Government Area of Taraba State.
Naija News learnt that a dispute regarding access to a water source triggered this assault.
The water source, a pond situated between the villages of Tor Bali and Atongo, has become a point of contention between the Tiv farming communities and the Fulani herders.
As stated by the chairman of the Bali Local Government Area, Aboki Dauda, peace was disrupted when a woman approached the pond to collect water and encountered a cow competing for the same resource.
Subsequently, she was reportedly assaulted by the herders.
The woman later raised an alarm about the incident, which elicited responses from members of her community.
“What happened here was terrible, you can see houses burnt, people displaced, but thank God that there was no life lost.
“Trouble started at the pond where the Tiv people were fetching water, the Fulani herders brought their cattle there, destroyed the area, and a woman who went to fetch water confronted them for spoiling the water by asking their cattle to drink from where they fetch to also drink,” Channels Television quoted Dauda saying.
“There and then, they attacked her with their sticks and she fell, cried, and called the husband and neighbours to assist her, and from there the crisis escalated all over the two communities.
”I took a bold step and summoned the leaders of the herders at the local government secretariat. We have identified them and warned that if such is repeated, they will be held responsible. The Fulani herders do not listen to their parents, that’s the problem we have with them,” he added.
A farmer, Ezekiel Gboo, in Tor Baki village, who narrowly escaped death, revealed that: “On that day, we were working on our farms and we saw them come from different directions with sticks and machetes and we had to flee for our lives.
”While running, I pulled out my phone and called our Tiv leader, who instructed me to run to the police station immediately. While escaping, I couldn’t go further. I stopped, and they pounced on me; they were about 30, hitting me with sticks and cutlasses, and that was how they inflicted injuries on me.”
Meanwhile, the Taraba State Government has stated that it will not accept any disruption of peace, whether through communal clashes or conflicts between farmers and herders, that could undermine its peace initiatives.
The Taraba State Government made this declaration during a visit by its delegation to the affected region, where they aimed to provide assistance in the form of non-food items and encouraged peaceful coexistence among the conflicting groups.
The leader of the Tiv communities, Zaki Gbaa, welcomed the delegation, which the Taraba State Commissioner for Special Duties and Humanitarian Affairs, Saviour Noku, led.
”Let’s try to live in peace with our neighbours, I know you’re peace-loving people and I want us to learn from what has happened and let us give peace a chance.
“It is always cheaper to stop a crisis from happening than to be reactionary; be proactive.
“What we have come up with is just an interim measure. I know we have more plans to make you comfortable and return to your ancestral homes,” the commissioner said.
The representative for Bali One Constituency in the Taraba State House of Assembly, Veronica Alhassan, who was included in the delegation, urged them to adopt a peaceful approach and avoid all types of resentment.
The delegation also paid a visit to the chief of Bakundi Palace, where they requested the traditional ruler’s support in maintaining peace within his jurisdiction.
In addition, the delegation distributed relief supplies to those affected by last week’s windstorm, which resulted in six fatalities and the destruction of more than 200 homes in the Garba Chede community of the Bali council area.
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