At least twenty persons may have died in a renewed confrontation between the Tiv settlers from Benue State and the Yache-Ijiegu village in Yala LGA, Cross River State, over unresolved boundary issues.
Although the exact number of fatalities is unknown, it is anticipated that the number of women and children would be greater.
We discovered that many persons have allegedly been shot in various degrees and have been cut with machetes.
Several accounts said that further houses on both sides had burned down.
According to a Yache source, Augustine Odey, the violence allegedly broke out again on Thursday afternoon when their son, Ayeku Godwin Ochuole, went to his farm and was attacked and killed by Tiv assailants.
He claimed that at least nine more people, all of whom had varying degrees of bullet wounds, were kidnapped as a result of the incident.
Approximately two months ago, the Tiv settlers allegedly refused to continue paying royalties for their stay on Yache lands, which sparked the violent boundary clashes.
The Tiv settlers, who have lived in the area for more than a century, intermarried, and own properties, have maintained that they are being forced to leave by the natives and that they have nowhere else to go.
Leaders of the Tiv people, notably Mr. Jacob Uswa, who asserted he was born 54 years ago and was raised as a chief on the land following his father’s passing, stated the Yache youths had persisted in unleashing unexpected attacks from the bushes, murdering members of their own community.
“We cannot watch helplessly as they carry on eradicating our people. We must protect ourselves. To launch attacks, they typically conceal in the undergrowth. This land belongs to us as well. We’re from Cross River State, too,” he asserted.
For more than a century, my father and his father before him resided in this town. I have also spent more than 50 years living here.
The Yache people’s admission that we are not native to this area surprises me.
“We are not from Benue State; we are natives of Cross River State.” Nevertheless, we had given in to their pressure to pay royalties on properties and homes.
He claims the war began in July 2023 and hasn’t stopped despite military presence and government initiatives. It was started by the Yache boys who came to collect royalties.
A youth activist in Yache named Augustine Odey has accused the governments of both states of doing little to address the recent spike in killings and unrest in Yache.
In addition, he claimed to have evidence that more “armed soldiers” moved with the Tiv settlers to inflict havoc on them, in addition to the soldiers dispatched to maintain order.
The governments of Benue State and Cross River State have persisted in acting like helpless bulldogs, letting their people perish in a crisis that they were supposed to have resolved.
The most recent onslaught continued from Thursday through Sunday, when the military-backed Tiv people of Benue State were able to enter the Ijiegu-Yache Community and open fire on the Ijiegu people who were going to work on their farms. As a result, an Ijiegu-Yache native was brutally killed.
As a response, Lt. Alex, one of the security team commanders, and Lt. H. J. Enoibor, another commander, stated that while they have made every effort to bring peace back to Yache, “Yache boys constantly indulge in attacks.” The Tivs have shown us that they listen by being restrained.
“I had to grimace at them yesterday when they killed one of my men. The Yache boys would even relocate to the other side of Benue State, where troops are stationed for potential attacks.
“They have complicated our efforts to achieve peace. We had anticipated only being here for one or two weeks, but it’s now been months. They ought to understand that conflict is in no way beneficial. Yache is not strong enough to resist the Tivs.
“We are hoping that this combined peace meeting with all parties involved on Wednesday will ultimately result in a peaceful resolution.”
