Musa Rhapsodi Affos, Jalingo 

Tragedy struck on Tuesday as not less than 11 persons have been confirmed killed and several missing following a clash that erupted between the Tiv and the Fulani ethnic groups in Bantaje town, a suburb of Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State.

Rhapsodi Affos Blog (RAB) gathered from community sources that   a Fulani man was robbed and killed by a suspected Tiv hoodlum on his way back from Sansani, a village market, a suburb of Gassol LG.

The incident led to a reprisal on Tiv villagers, resulting to the murder of 10 people on Tuesday.

A resident, David Korbee, who lost his brother in the Tuesday attack, told newsmen that two of his female children were still missing.

He said, “We recovered six bodies yesterday (Tuesday) and buried them today (Wednesday). This morning, the vigilantes found four more bodies in the bush and we intend to bury them this afternoon.

“As we speak, many people are still missing and we can’t tell whether they are alive or dead. The Fulani attackers are hunting and killing people on their farms, so it is difficult to ascertain the actual casualty figures.”

A leader of the Bantaje Chiefdom, Yahaya Rufai, in whose domain the attack happened, confirmed the incident, adding that six farmers were killed at the boundary between Gassol and Wukari local government areas.

All efforts to reach the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abdullahi Usman, proved abortive as did not pick his calls when our reporter called.