Gunmen have killed three people and abducted six others in a attack on Jouro Manu village in the Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State.
According to residents, the attackers came on motorcycles at about 2 pm on Sunday and started shooting anyone at sight.
Residents of the community, Umar Saidu and Abdullahi Mohammed, told Punch that people were fleeing the communities around the area for fear of being killed or kidnapped.
Acting Police Public Relations Officer of the Taraba State command, Gambo Bajabu Kwache, confirmed the incident on Monday and said the police were already on top of the situation.
“We are on top of the situation. We have made a deployment to the area to track down the attackers,” she said.
The immediate past chairman of Gassol local government, Hon. Musa Chul, had last year raised an alarm over the regrouping of terrorists in forests around the council area.
Youths Cry Out Over Attacks
Meanwhile, youths from the Kuteb ethnic stock have cried out that their future is under serious threat over the continuous attack of their communities by bandits in Ussa, Takum local government areas and Yangtu special development area.
The youths under the aegis of Concerned Kuteb Youths in Diaspora, Monday said they can no longer engage in farming activities which they affirmed is their source of livelihood.
Spokesman of the Kuteb youth group, Caleb Ure, in a statement on the plight of their kinsmen in Ussa, Takum and Yangtu development area in Taraba South, urged government to live up to its responsibility.
According to him, “The Taraba State Government, Federal Government and stakeholders should condemn this attack; then move beyond rhetorics; take a decisive step to stop this ethnic cleansing against the Kuteb race in Kwararafa Kingdom and restore Peace.
“These heinous attacks create deplorable state of security that is threatening every aspect of life of our people, forcing over 120,000 persons to abandon their homes toseek refuge in Takum and Lissam towns.
“The attacks are still ongoing, the attackers wielding sophisticated weapons and villages are left in ruins and rubbles.
“Daily, lives are lost, women and children wail and men bury the dead.
“We want to state clearly that if this situation is not addressed expediently, the future of our people is under serious threat.
“As we speak, we can no longer engage in farming which is our primary economic activity.
“We are rather going backwards economically because of the incessant attacks, killings and destructions.”