Uneasy calm in Jalingo as fresh violence claims several lives

An uneasy calm pervaded Jalingo, capital of Taraba State, on Monday, after hundreds of residents fled their domains following a bloody attack on Sunday.

Casualty figure remained hazy as at the time of filing this report but unconfirmed sources said many people were killed during the crisis and many houses razed.

But Governor Darius Ishaku, moved swiftly Monday night and imposed a 4.00 p.m. to 6a.m. curfew on the capital, Jalingo.

The precise cause of the crisis, which spread quickly in communities in the Kona and ATC areas near the capital, is also yet to be determined; at least officially.

But reports said the conflagration, which has now been curtailed, began at about 5p.m. on Sunday, at Kasuwan Bera in the ATC area very close to the Taraba State University.

Sources said that the Kona ethnic group had allegedly blocked a popular highway and attacked innocent citizens, and travellers. This created panic among the residents as everybody-both the young and the aged, women and the infirmed, ran in diverse directions for dear life.

At the Taraba State University, students were seen fleeing in droves even as traders locked their shops and ran.

Daily Trust newspaper, in a report, recalled that the Kona ethnic group and Fulani had clashed few weeks ago during which some people were killed in Jalingo and Ardo Kola areas.

The newspaper further re[ported that the Kona ethnic group had, a fortnight ago, allegedly abducted and killed three cattle merchants after robbing them of over N7 million.