Monday, August 12, 2024 - Gunmen have killed five passengers and the driver of a commercial vehicle travelling from Takum Local Government Area to Wukari LGA in Taraba State.
The victims were killed at a boundary
area between Taraba and Benue states along Takum-Wukari road at about 7:23am on
Monday, August 12, 2024.
It was gathered that the gunmen
suspected to be bandits came out of the bush near Sai village with guns and
machetes, and attacked the passengers, sparing a woman and a baby.
The bandits, after killing the
passengers, also proceeded to attack farmers who were working close to where
the victims were killed.
The victims include a lecturer at the
Federal University Wukari and the Deputy Registrar of Taraba State School of
Health Technology.
Also among the victims was a
secondary school principal, Mr Samuel Mbapuun, who was transferred from a
secondary school in Takum to another secondary school in Wukari Local
Government Area.
He was reportedly on his way to
report to the new school he was posted to when he was killed.
It was learnt that the lecturer from
the Federal University Wukari was returning to Wukari after spending the
weekend with his family in Takum.
A source from Takum town said there
was serious tension in the community following the killing of travellers who
were all indigenes of the town.
The source further stated that
soldiers were however sent to patrol some areas around the town to calm the
situation.
The spokesperson of the State Police
Command, DSP Kwache Gambo, confirmed the identities of the victims to
journalists.
The chairman of Takum council, John
Ali, who confirmed the incident said that the National Union of Road Transport
Workers (NURTW) has been warned against plying the route early in the morning
due to the volatile nature of the road.
“The first vehicle that carried about
five passengers left Takum in the early hours of Monday at about 6:00 am, the
vehicle alongside its occupants approached Sai a community in Benue state and
we usually have problems in that axis," he said.
"The hoodlums emerged from the
bush and opened fire on the moving vehicle and k!lled the six passengers
including the driver.
"I have instructed the security
agencies to carry the corpse, deposit it, and go after the hoodlums.
“Already, there is a team of security
agencies put in place by the Governor shortly after the killing of the
third-class chief of Chanchanji and his son. The patrol team was preparing to
move into their various units of the patrol as they normally come out around
7:00 am but the incident happened between 6:00 am to 6:30 am
“We earlier had a security meeting
with the NURTW and other unions where we warned against plying the road as
early as possible in the morning because security agencies on patrol have not
resumed duty. I do not know why they failed to intimate their members or why
this driver left early in the morning and became a victim.”
He stressed that the hoodlums will
not go unpunished as the government is doing everything possible to apprehend
the perpetrators.
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