10 killed, others injured in fresh Nasarawa crisis

At least 10 people were feared killed yesterday following an outbreak of violence at Shabu, the headquarters of Shabu Local Council Development Area in Lafia Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. 

Also, the state Head of Service, Dominic Bako, who ran into the crisis, sustained gunshot wounds. Bako and other victims were rushed to Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital in Lafia, the state capital. Several houses and shops were set ablaze, forcing hundreds of people to flee to Lafia and its environs.
One person was reportedly killed at Tudun Kauri while two others were arrested in Lafia metropolis following reprisal attacks. The renewed crisis came barely a day after Governor Tanko Al-Makura led top echelons of his administration on a seven-kilometre ‘Peace and Unity Walk’ to demonstrate peace as part of activities marking his 62nd birthday.
Report said that trouble started following rumours of attack on Alakyo village and its environs by suspected Fulani insurgents, forcing the residents to flee to Shabu where hostilities later broke out. It was gathered that an angry mob attacked passengers in transit with machetes, causing panic among several commuters who were stranded during the fracas that lasted for several hours before the arrival of security agents. A resident of Shabu, Amadu Abu, who fled to Lafia, told our correspondent that he saw some Eggon youths who were coming from Alakyo area to Shabu and started shooting sporadically.
Abu said that in the process, a pregnant woman was killed by stray bullet. Responding to questions from journalists on his hospital bed, Bako said he went to Aridi where two of his wife’s cousins were involved in an accident. The head of service said he was returning to attend a meeting with the governor and some elders when he ran into the crisis. He said: “We were supposed to meet with His Excellency by 1pm because of the security situation to discuss the way forward. When I was coming, after Keffi Wambai, I met a lot of boys in mufti with guns and cutlasses. “It was by the grace of God that I was not killed.
The bullet hit my hand. They wanted to shoot me in the head but I used my hand to block it. But they destroyed the vehicle I was travelling in.’’ Bako advised the people to tolerate one another and live in peace as illustrated by the governor during the ‘Peace and Unity Walk’. Meanwhile, four bodies recovered by the police during the crisis were deposited at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital mortuary in Lafia.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Ogwochukwu Theodore, confirmed the incident. He said that policemen had been mobilised there to bring the situation under control. The PPRO, however, declined comment on the casualty figure and arrest made so far.http://newtelegraphonline.com/10-killed-others-injured-in-fresh-nasarawa-crisis/