Suspected herdsmen occupy 17 villages in Taraba, monarch alleges
The traditional ruler of Kona people, Augustine Njanmeng, has decried the alleged occupation of 17 villages belonging to his community by suspected herdsmen in Jalingo Local Government Area of Taraba State.
Njanmeng told newsmen in his palace in Jalingo on Wednesday that the herdsmen were grazing on the farms of displaced people.
He also alleged that the herdsmen carried sophisticated weapons which he alleged they used “to shoot anyone in sight.”
The monarch therefore called on the government and international community to intervene so as to return the displaced people to their ancestral homes.
He added that his two farms sitting on 12 hectares of land had been destroyed by the herdsmen.
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The second-class chief alerted government of impending food crisis in the state if those displaced are not returned to continue with their agricultural activities.
Reporters who visited some of the farms observed that several farms were grazed upon and consequently destroyed.
Mr James Ayuba, one of the farmers whose farm had been destroyed, called on government at all levels to end the crisis.
However, the state Chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Sahabi Tukur, declined to react to the allegation, saying he would make his comment as soon as the national secretariat of MACBAN authorises him to do so, reports the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
It would be recalled that skirmishes between suspected herdsmen and Kona community claimed several lives and property in Jalingo and Ardo Kola Local Government Areas of the state.
