Seven people were reportedly killed in Rafin Kada and Kente, Jukun towns in Wukari LGA of Taraba State early yesterday. Daily Trust gathered that several other persons were missing after the attacks while hundreds of houses were burnt.
The attackers also sacked other Jukun villages along Rafin Kada, Donga and Takum road.
The attacks came a few weeks after Tiv people in Taraba rejected the composition of membership of a peace and reconciliation committee set up by Taraba State government to address lingering Tiv/Jukun crises.
A source in the area, Mr James Agbo, told Daily Trust that the attackers invaded the two towns with guns and sacked the entire community. He said many people escaped into the forest with gunshot wounds, while hundreds, including women and children, are missing.
The Chairman of Wukari LGA, Mr. Adigrace Daniel, told Daily Trust that five persons were killed in Rafin Kada while two were killed at Kente.
Jukuns in the state have rejected demands by the Tiv ethnic group to have a representative in the Wukari traditional council.
The National President of Jukun Youths Association, Mr Zando Hoku, said in an interview with Daily Trust that as far as Jukuns were concerned, the Tiv are not indigenes in Wukari and it is therefore not legitimate for them to demand inclusion in the traditional council. He said the Tiv have their traditional council in Gboko, and no any other tribe is accommodated therein.
According to him, Abinsi, a Jukun town which is very close to Makurdi, was formerly a provisional headquarters in Benue Province and used to have a third-class chief but the town was relegated to a mere ward.
Mr Zando explained that it was the Jukuns and Hausa people that founded Makurdi town but are now completely schemed out.
Zando said however in the case of Makurdi town, no other tribe including the Hausas and Jukuns that should have been stake holders were given even a ward head or allowed to contest for the post of a councilor.
He said however in Wukari, Donga and Ibbi Tiv people have contested for senator and other positions and have farmlands all over the area.
