By Abdullahi Shuaibu, Lafia.
There was tension and apprehension in Giza Development Area of Keana local government Area of Nasarawa state as Air Force helicopter attacked and some cattle belonging to herdsmen from Nasarawa state on Sunday.
According to an eyewitness account, the incident occurred twice on that fateful day, the first one was around 6am while the second one occurred around 10 am where an Air Force helicopter from Makurdi, the Benue state capital made an Arial attack in which over 40 cattle from Giza Development Area of Nasarawa state were reported killed during the attack, while More than 100 others sustained various degrees of injuries, while about 300 cattle were missing in the process.
When this reporter visited the scene of the incident on Monday cattle that were attacked during the incident were seen inside the bush, while the residents of the area who are mostly Tiv speaking people in Giza town, Awam , kuduku and other villages deserted their areas for fear of reprisal attacks from the fulani herdsmen. Speaking to journalists on the matter, district head of Giza, Malam Abdullahi Dogara Adi who blamed the entire incident to the Benue state government whom he alleged invited Air Force from Makurdi, the Benue state capital to launch an attack to the innocent fulani herdsmen in Nasarawa state, without recourse to his counterpart from Nasarawa state, Engineer Abdullahi Sule for them to have a round table discussion, ” This unfortunate incident would have been averted,if Governor Ortom met with his counterpart in Nasarawa state for a round table discussion.” Dogara therefore appealed to the federal government to tackle the issue of boundary adjustment in order to tackle once and for all the frequent boundary crises between Benue and Nasarawa state”. Also speaking, Director personnel Management ( DPM) Abdullahi Oja Awuma who condemned the attack, appealed to the fulani herdsmen and Tiv farmers to remain calm as government will ensure the protection of lives and property within the two states. On his part, the Ardon fulani of Nasarawa state, Lawal Dano who described the incident as unfortunate appealed to both fulani herdsmen and Tiv farmers to continue to live peaceful with one another and to avoid anything that may breach the existing peace in the area. Also speaking, Ardon Giza, Hassan Abubakar who said that it was the first time that such an incident occurred, appealed to the state government to compensate those whose cattle were killed in the best interest of peace and harmony. It would be recalled that recently, there was an attack on border towns between Nasarawa and Benue states,a situation if not properly handled, may bring hunger in two states.
Nasarawa Reporters 