An IDP shelter in Giza

NKRUMAH BANKONG-OBI/Lafia

Armed men numbering over fifty have reportedly attacked several Tiv-dominated areas in three local government areas of Nasarawa State. Four people were killed in the separate attacks, one injured, and houses were burnt and food crops worth millions of naira destroyed. This latest attack on the communities was announced by Philip Non’gu, the chairman of Mdzou U Tiv, the sociocultural association of people in Nasarawa State, via a statement made available to reporters in Lafia on Thursday.

Nong’u said the assailants who attacked rural settlements in the three local government areas, also “blocked the road between Tse Akula and Tse Iyo Kadarko and adopted Teryem Aondo and collected four motorcycles belonging to Tiv farmers, including Teryem Aondo, until now his body is nowhere to be found.” He added that the attackers also invaded Yange in Obi Local Government Area and snatched three motorcycles before injuring a woman.

The statement noted that the sporadic attacks have led to the displacement of over twenty thousand people from their communities. According to the statement, 5,000 victims are sheltering in Giza Primary School in Keana LGA, five thousand are in Government Primary School Kardo North, while about 10,000 are believed to be sheltering in Agyaragau and Lafia, where they have been taken in by relatives, friends, while others just shelter in public places.

The attackers, the statement added, destroyed farm produce like rice, cassava, water melon, groundnuts, among others, worth millions of naira. To ameliorate the suffering of the affected individuals, implored the Federal government to ensure that Tiv communities in Nasarawa State are protected against attacks, so that they can engage in farming and other activities. He also called on the Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Nongovernmental Organisations in the state to intervene and provide succour to the internally displaced persons.

Pix: An IDP shelter in Giza