Retaliatory killings between the Tiv people of Benue State and the Ijiegu-Yache of the Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State apparently started Wednesday, with five people reportedly being decapitated.
The community’s Tiv chief, Chief Jacob Uswa, verified this on Wednesday and said that numerous others had suffered maiming.
He claimed that when the Yache guys went to their farms to gather cassava, they killed their own.
“On Sunday 8th October 2023, they attacked and beheaded three of our boys in their farms where they had gone to harvest cassava for fufu.
“Two others were also killed in another farm. They displayed the heads before their Yache people. The Yache boys are all over the bushes to attack us,” he said.
Augustine Adula, a youth leader in Ijiegu-Yache community, said they had to defend themselves when the Tiv militia unleashed attacks against them on their farms.
He alleged that the Tiv boys go to their farms to harvest their farm yields and attack their women and farmers.
“We have suffered incessant attacks from those Tiv settlers. They invade our community wearing military camouflages and some times they would take us by surprise through the bushes to attack us.
“As a result, our boys have stopped their businesses and schools and have taken positions in the bushes to defend our land and people, so that they can block the Tivs when they come surreptitiously,” Adula said.
Adula claims that the situation has made living for them exceedingly tough and that markets and schools have been closed as a result of intense concern for their safety.
According to reports, the Tivs’ alleged refusal to keep paying royalties on the land they settled on is what started the hostilities. Last month, this resulted in fatalities and the damage of homes on both sides.
The Tivs, however, assert that because they have lived in the village for more than a century, they are more natives of Cross River than of Benue State.
The lack of security personnel—including soldiers sent to maintain peace between them—and their concentration mostly on the town have angered both community leaders, leaving the hinterlands vulnerable to ongoing killings.
The two deputy governors of the two states, Peter Odey of Cross River State and Sam Ode of Benue State, respectively, had earlier visited the neighborhood and pleaded for an end to hostilities as they tried to achieve peace.
Police PRO Irene Ugbo stated that no official complaint on the most recent killings had been received.