Three Policemen, Woman Killed in Renewed Communal Clash in Taraba

Wole Ayodele

Four persons, including three mobile policemen have been killed in a renewed communal clash between the Ichen and Ndaka tribes in Bissaula, Kurmi Local Government Area of Taraba State.

Also killed along with the policemen, who were attached to 67 Squadron, Takum, is an elderly woman who is simply identified as Isobye.

THISDAY gathered that the policemen, who were drafted to the community to maintain peace following an outbreak of violent clashes between the two tribes, were killed last Wednesday by ethnic militia, who ambushed them when they went to make telephone call in a primary school.

After being killed, their bodies were dumped in a disused well and their service rifles stolen by the militia who later escaped to Cameroon.

Their corpses were later recovered last Friday in the disused well by a search and rescue party that was constituted to search for them.

The crisis in Bissaula erupted on December 16, 2022, while the community has also witnessed several attacks since then despite government intervention and presence of security forces.

The state government had on February 5, 2022, constituted a commission of inquiry headed by Shehu Vocks to investigate the causes of the crisis.

Addressing a press briefing in a swift reaction to the recent crisis in the area, Jibrin Musa Garba, the youth leader in Bissaula, condemned the ongoing attacks on the community, which he said was targeted at displaced people who were returning to the town to rebuild their lives.

He commended the state Governor, Darius Ishaku, for establishing the commission of inquiry which, according to him, would bring lasting peace, as well as appointing representatives of the warring parties as members of the commission.

Describing the attacks as unprovoked and premeditated, Garba reiterated the commitment and support of the Ichen to the peace efforts of the state government, including the deployment of peace keeping forces and the commission of inquiry.

Meanwhile, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Abdullahi Usman, told THISDAY that the crisis was gradually being brought under control.

He said: “The state Police Command has deployed detachments of policemen to the area. Though fighting is still ongoing, the intensity is reducing as they have resorted largely to guerilla warfare.”