In Keana Local Government Area, Nasarawa State, there has been a communal fight between the Tiv community and the indigenous Alago people that has resulted in at least 11 deaths.
The deaths were verified to journalists by Philip Nongu, president of the Nasarawa State chapter of Mzough U Tiv (MUT), included Federal Girls College, Keana students who were stranded in their dorms.
According to reports on Obasanjonews.com, a land dispute at the Benue/Nasarawa border town set off the conflict.
Two from Alago and two from Tiv, according to a witness, were among the first four people slain, along with numerous homes being set on fire and numerous others being injured.
Peter Ahemba, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Abdullahi Sule on Public Affairs, acknowledged the situation and reported that one person had been officially declared dead and four injured.
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According to Ahemba, the fighting started near the boundary between Benue and Nasarawa and eventually spread to Keana.
He added that the situation has been brought under control thanks to the presence of security personnel in the area and urged everyone to remain calm. He said that violence and destruction do not lead to solutions and urged people to forgo retaliatory attacks in favour of letting peace prevail.
The violent altercation has been denounced by the Tiv community in Nasarawa State, which is organised under the Tiv Development Association (TIDA).
Simeon Apusu, the association’s president, expressed concern over the hundreds of Tiv farmers who were uprooted from Keana town and surrounding villages.
Apusu emphasised that talking things out is the best way to settle disputes and that using violence is ineffective.
In an effort to find a long-term resolution to the land issues, he also urged the federal and state governments to quicken the current border demarcation process between the states of Nasarawa and Benue.
In the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Mohammed Omadefu, a member representing the Keana constituency, urged his people to maintain composure.
Omadefu voiced concern over the continued violence, particularly during the farming season, and denounced the murders of innocent farmers in his area.
He gave the neighbourhood confidence that law enforcement is diligently pursuing the offenders.
