Fulani herdsmen attack Taraba villages, kill 15

The Taraba State Police Commissioner, Shaba Alkali on Tuesday said suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked Dori and Mesuma villages in Gashaka Local Government Area of the state.

Addressing newsmen at the state police Command Headquarters in Yobe, the state capital, Alkali said no fewer than 15 people lost their lives in the Sunday attack.

According to Alkali, the suspected herdsmen launched coordinated attacks on the two villages on Sunday at about 11 A.M.

He said, “A group of people numbering about twenty, suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, invaded and attacked Dori and Mesuma villages via Garbabi ward, Gashaka LGA, and burnt some thatch-houses, forcing the villagers to flee into the villages of Mayo-Selbe and Sabon Gida for safety.

“Eight people were killed in Dori village while seven were also killed in Mesuma.”

On getting the report of the attack from the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in charge of Serti, Alkali said he quickly deployed his men to the area but could not access the village due to the bad road.

Alkali stated that over 40 more mobile police personnel were redeployed from Yola, Adamawa State, to the affected areas, adding that they had cordoned off routes to the affected communities.

“My detectives are around Bali area to make sure that those that carried out the attacks are arrested,” he said.

The police boss also disclosed that two suspects had been arrested in connection with the attack.

Alkali paraded a 52-year-old man, Ardo Ayuba Iliyasu, as the mastermind of the Dori and Mesuma villages attacks.

He noted that that the suspect convened a meeting of a large number of persons in his house at Garbabi village few hours before the attacks. The suspect, however, denied the allegation.

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