4 killed, houses razed as gunmen invade Taraba village 

Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo

No fewer than four persons were feared dead and several houses, including shops burnt when  gunmen invaded Dan-Anacha village in Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State.

There has been uneasy calm in Dan-Anacha following the renaming of the village by the Taraba State government from Dan-Anacha to Kwararafa as Tiv and Jukun engaged themselves in a supremacy battle of who owns the village.

Residents told our correspondent that gunmen invaded the village at about 3:00p.m on Friday, shooting and burning houses, resulting  in the death of four persons.

An Igbo trader who gave his name simply as Emeka told our correspondent on the phone that his shop was burnt in the attack.

Emeka said the gunmen operated from 3:00p.m to 5:30p.m and later resumed from 8:00p.m, burning over 100 houses and shops.

Mr Jerry Tyolanga, former special assistant to Governor Darius Ishaku who hails from the village told journalists that several houses were burnt and property worth millions of naira destroyed.

Mallam Tanko Mohammed, a resident of the village, however, told our correspondent that normalcy has returned to the village, following the deployment of additional security forces to the area.

Mohammed said that many people who fled the attack are taking refuge in the nearby Sabon-Gida and Tella communities.

Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Taraba State Command, DSP David Misal who confirmed the attack, however, said that details about the attack were still sketchy.

“The Commissioner of Police Taraba State has since dispatched a high profile team to the area and I will give you information about the attack as soon as they are back from the ‘on the spot’ assessment of the incident,” he said.