Gunmen strike in Taraba, kill lecturer, deputy registrar, 6 travellers
Gunmen killed a lecturer at the Federal University Wukari, a deputy registrar of the Taraba State School of Health Technology, and six other travelers along the Takum-Wukari road early Monday morning.
Reports have it that the incident occurred in the Sai community, a border area of Benue State extending into Takum LGA of Taraba State.
The chairman of the Takum council, John Ali, confirmed the incident on Monday.
The Takum-Wukari Express Road is the same location where the traditional ruler of Chanchanji and his son were ambushed and killed by gunmen recently while returning from a funeral service in Takum town.
According to him, 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 area.
“The first vehicle, which carried about five passengers, left Takum in the early hours of Monday at around 6:00 a.m. The vehicle, along with its occupants, approached Sai, a community in Benue State, where we usually have problems in that area.
“The hoodlums emerged from the bush and opened fire on the moving vehicle, killing the six passengers, including the driver. I have instructed the security agencies to retrieve the corpses, deposit them, and pursue the hoodlums.
“Already, there is a team of security agencies that was 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 to their various units for the patrol as they normally come out around 7:00 a.m., but the incident happened between 6:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.”
“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 had not yet resumed duty. I do not know why they failed to inform their members or why this driver left early in the morning and became a victim.”
He stressed that the hoodlums would not go unpunished, as the government is doing everything possible to apprehend the perpetrators.
The acting Police Public Relations Officer of the Taraba Police Command, DSP Kwache Gambo, confirmed the killings to newsmen in a telephone interview.
Proofreading by Uchechi Ojo, Sub-editor at Neptune Prime.
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