Seventeen people including an Imam and a village head were counted among those killed in the escalating communal clashes between the Jukun and the Tiv in Maigoge community in Bali local government, Taraba State.
Governor Darius Ishaku has condemned the killings and warned militiamen to stop further attacker be prepared to face the consequences.
The conflicts between Tivs and Jukuna in southern Taraba State has lasted decades putting the state in the news from time to time.
Successive state governments have tried all they could to restore normalcy in the warring zone but the actors have remained adamant.
Now more than 200 houses including that of a youth leader were recently razed in a militia attack in Maigoge Community in Bali local government.
It was said to be a reprisal attack, coming a few days after a pastor Emmanuel Bileya and his,wife, Juliana, of CRC-N Church in Mararaba, Donga local government, were killed on their farmland by militia men
Governor Ishaku who was represented at a press conference by his deputy, warned that the attacks must stop immediately or there will be consequences.
The Governor directed security to be beefed up in the targeted communities to guarantee safety of lives and properties.
Security agencies are also ordered to go after members of the militia gangs responsible for the attacks and killings and ensure that they are brought to book.
Residents are worried that the conflicts between the Tivs and the Jukuns have been allowed to go on this long with the state government unable to find a permanent solution to the crises.
Governor Ishaku is determined to stop the militia attacks in the Southern Taraba as well as ensure lasting peace among communities in Central and Southern Taraba.
