Nassarawa State boiled again, With 15 killed

• Africcon News
  Africcon Report: Nasarawa boils again, 15 killed
  Africcon New Media – News
  
  From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
  
  
  Less than a month after about 60 security officers were killed by a cult group Ombatse in its domain, Nassarawa State boiled again yesterday.
  
  About 15 persons were reportedly killed in Agatu community, Rukubi, Doma Local Government Area of the state. They were said to have been killed when a band of gunmen suspected to be Tiv militiamen allegedly attacked the village.
  
  Scores of others were also said to have sustained various degrees of injuries and several houses burnt when the attackers invaded the community at about 5: 30 am yesterday.
  They were said to have shot at anybody on sight.
  
  No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, just as no official statement has been issued concerning the incident. Sources said that attack was not unconnected to an allegation that the Agatu community harbours Fulani cattle heardsmen, who have frequently attacked other tribes in the area.
  
  Nigerian Compass gathered that Rukubi, a community dominated by the Agatus, was fingered in recent times for allegedly harbouring the Fulani herdsmen who attacked local Tiv farmers in the area.
  
  It was gathered that no fewer than 18,000 farmers, mostly of the Eggon and Tiv extractions have deserted their homes in areas such as Ankoma and Gidan Rai Kwara and have since taken refuge in the neighbouring communities within and outside the state.
  
  Reacting to the development, President of Tiv Youth Organisation ( TYO) in the state, Peter Igbacher Kwembe, condemned the incident.  He also dismissed the allegation making the rounds that Tiv people were responsible for the attack.
  
  He added that his kinsmen has since been forced out of their ancestral homes for over two years in the area and wondered why the allegations were directed at them. He also alleged that it was a calculated attempt to give the Tiv a bad name in order to hang them and make them a subject of further attacks.
  
  Efforts to obtain comments on the matter from the State Commissioner of Police, Umar Shehu, were unsuccessful as he could neither pick phone calls nor text messages put to his mobile phone as at the time of filling this report.
  
  Nassarawa has in the past one month occupied an unenviable status on the nation’s security system.
  
  Early last month, about 10 members of the State Security Service and 46 policemen were killed in the state by a cult group, the Ombatse. It was soon after the killings that President Goodluck Jonathan opted to declare a state of emergency in three states of the north, namely, Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States.
  
  The SSS had  on Tuesday May 14 confirmed that 10 of its operatives were killed by followers of a traditional religion in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital.
  
  The joint forces were on their way to a shrine located in a community in the outskirt of Lafia when they were attacked and killed.
  
  Police spokesman, Frank Mba said 46 policemen were killed in the operation and 32 corpses were identified for burial. He said a number of policemen have survived the attack.