Two villagers have lost their lives while several others sustained varying degrees of injuries following a renewed outbreak of violence between farmers and Fulani herders in the Lamido Local Government Area of Taraba State.
The clash reportedly began after a 34-year-old farmer, Buhari Malam, was attacked with a machete by suspected herders while working on his farm, leading to his untimely death.
According to eyewitnesses, Malam was found by fellow farmers struggling for his life and was rushed to the Bandawa Primary Health Care Centre, where he was later pronounced dead as a result of the fatal injuries sustained during the attack.
Enraged by his death, a group of farmers—mostly youths—launched a retaliatory assault on the nearby Fulani community, during which they slaughtered five cows and inflicted injuries on seven others belonging to the herders.
The situation, however, took a more violent turn on the following day when another farmer, Ishaku Tunde, was ambushed and left with deep machete wounds allegedly inflicted by herders, while Dauda Bawa was killed in a separate attack while travelling from Bandawa to Karim Lamido.
Amid the escalating tensions, a prominent Fulani leader, Ardo Baka, disclosed that six herders had gone missing during the unrest, raising fears among their families that they may have been killed in reprisal attacks by the aggrieved farmers.
In response to the growing violence and uncertainty, a joint security team comprising military personnel, police officers, local vigilantes, and hunters has been deployed to the affected areas to restore calm, even as peace talks involving community leaders from both sides are currently underway.
