BREAKING: Tension mounts as fighting breaks out in Nasarawa -

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Serious fighting has broken out between the Fulani and Eggon in the Tudun Adabu area of Obi local government of Nasarawa State. According to the police, most houses in the area have been set ablaze while the town has been deserted. The Managing Director of the Police Micro Finance Bank, Alhassan Gidado, and two others were murdered in the same area in September, 2013 when Ombatse militia attacked neighbouring villages and passers-by. The two others killed were the Abuja branch manager of the bank, Tunde Banwo, and their driver, Aliyu Adamu in Tudun Adabu. The recent fight is a spill-over of the killings that occurred between Monday and Tuesday around Assakio in Lafia local government and Bakyano in Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area. About 20 houses were burnt in Assakio on Tuesday while the resident of the paramount ruler, Osula Inarigu, was vandalised. Tension has already enveloped the entire state for fear of reprisal attacks across communities where Fulanis and Eggons reside. The state police spokesperson, Ismaila Numan, who confirmed the incident, said information available to the police was still sketchy especially as it concerns casualty figures. Mr. Numan also said that the town of Assakio, a few kilometres outside Lafia, has been deserted. “Houses around the chief’s house have been set ablaze while the chief’s house was vandalised. We didn’t recover any corpse yet but the town has been deserted. The town is just like a ghost town,” he said. In a press briefing Wednesday, the senior special assistant on public affairs to the Nasarawa State governor, Abdulhamid Kwarra, disclosed that communities in Akwanga, Nasarawa Eggon , Lafia, Obi and Wamba local government areas were enmeshed in crisis. “The state has again been engulfed in security challenges in the past seventy two hours, which has led to some fatalities, and at the same time, displaced some persons,” he said. Mr. Kwarra said that the number of casualties would be ascertained after the state Security Council meeting which was still holding at the time of the briefing. He said that government has taken proactive measures to contain the situation. Trouble reportedly started last weekend following a misunderstanding between the Fulani and Eggon, which resulted in a reprisal attack by Ombatse militia in support of the Eggon at Alingani community in Lafia local government area. Investigation by PREMIUM TIMES showed that hundreds of internally displaced persons, IDPs, were trooping to Lafia, the state capital, and Nasarawa Eggon, the headquarters of the Eggon tribe. The police spokesperson, Mr. Numan, confirmed that there were two casualties from Sunday’s attack.