Bauchi State Police Command has confirmed that there was a communal clash between the border communities of Gamawa and Zaki LGA of the State which claimed an unspecified number of lives while others were variously injured.
Spokesperson of the Command, SP Ahmed Wakili in a telephone conversation late Friday evening, made the confirmation, saying however that the situation has been put under control as security operatives have been drafted to keep the peace in the affected areas.
Ahmed Wakili explained that the clash was between the youths of Tarbuwa community in Zaki local government sharing a boundary with Kubdiya community in Gamawa local government area.
He said that, “yes, there was a clash between the two border communities of Gamawa and Zaki LGAs. The two communities attacked themselves on Tuesday.”
According to him, members of the two communities used various dangerous weapons such as bows and arrows, clubs, sticks and others to attack each other leading to death and injuries on both parties.
The PPRO added that, “As a result, one Aliyu Idris of Kubdiya was shot in the eye with an arrow while Abdullahi Abdullahi, 38 years old, Waziri Garba, 26 years old, Ishau Alhaji, 25 years old, Umar 30 years old, Idris Abdullahi, 27 years old, Udu Abdullahi Yari, 36 years, Mohammed Goni, 31 years old, Hassan Zakari, 30 years old, Umar Idris, Ahmadu Hussaini Wagaji, Alhaji, 40 years old all of them of Kubdiya village were injured.”
He said that on receiving the report, the Commissioner of Police, Umar Mamman Sanda directed the Area Commander in Azare which is in charge of the affected LGAs to mobilize to the area in order to control the situation.
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Ahmed Wakili added that the DPO and a number of Policemen visited the affected area and evacuated two of the victims to the General Hospital, Gamawa for treatment while 2 other victims were referred to the Federal Medical Center (FMC), Azare for further treatment others are receiving treatment.
He said that investigations have since commenced in order to unravel the circumstances that led to the clash assuring that anyone found culpable no matter his status will be arrested and prosecuted according to the laws of the country.
The PPRO then urged the people of the state to tolerate each other, live in peace and use every available peaceful means to resolve issues among them while the Police will continue to protect lives and properties of residents of the state.
He then said that a Suspect has been arrested in connection with the case whose name he gave as Umar Jibir a 40 year man from Kubdiya village in Gamawa LGA.
However, independent reports from the area revealed that not fewer than three people were reportedly killed while 10 others were injured in what was a renewed border clash between the two warring neighbouring villages of Gamawa and Zaki local government areas of Bauch State.
The latest conflict according to a source from the area came after a suspected armed youth group from Kubdiya attacked their neighbors from Tarbuwa village.
A resident of Gamawa who spoke with Our Correspondent on the condition of anonymity disclosed that members of the caravan escaped narrowly with matchet wounds.
According to him, “What happened was that some youths of Tarbuwa in Zaki local government stopped one member of Kubdiya who is on his way to his village and beat him up and burnt his motorcycle. He survived being killed by the Villagers as he jumped into the river”.
He added that, “This did not go down well with the people of Kubdiya but the District Head of Gamawa on hearing of the incident quickly went there and consoled the people appealing to them to take it as an act of Allah and let it go while efforts were made to amicably resolved the issue”.
The source further said that, “So, the next morning, while the residents were on the farms doing their work, some irate Youths went on a revenge mission. The two communities engaged each other by the use of local arrows and even Dane guns and in the process, three lives were lost,”.
He also said that a high-powered committee was set up to restore normalcy in the area and to proffer solutions to avert future occurrences.
“The situation is bad, this long dispute among the two communities will not in any way help matters. Just recently, the area has been hit by flood, the people did not recuperate from that disaster and yet in another now’, he lamented.
He said that 10 people were injured at Kubdia and are currently receiving treatment at Gamawa General Hospital saying that security personnel have been dispatched to the area to restore normalcy has been restored.
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