Violence erupted in Omala Local Government Area of Kogi State which led to the death of no fewer than three people and property running into millions of naira worth more than N30 million destroyed following an attack on the village from youths

It was reported that the violence was reportedly fuelled by the Fulani herdsmen – Agatu/Igala crises in Bagana, which some youths latched onto to attack the Ogba, Nupe community over its alleged support for the Fulani herdsmen.

Speaking with reporters at the weekend in Lokoja, the PDP chairman in Omala Loca Government, Alhaji Hassan Abubakar, who claimed to have lost two of his relations, six houses and two cars in the mayhem, said the youths attacked the community without any provocation.

According to him, the youths were merely hiding under the Fulani/Agatu crisis to attack his community because they perceived Nupes as settlers who are prospering in business and cattle rearing.

Abubakar said: “All what the youths are doing is that they are acting the scripts of some powerful individuals who have vowed to wipe us out (the Nupes) and drive us away from Omala because they say we are strangers, forgetting that we have been living here for more than 200 years without any problem.

“I am the PDP chairman in Omala Local Government and the chairman of NURTW in the local government; these positions are being rotated among all the ethnic groups in the town, but some people now feel we the settlers must not be given any sensitive position again, whereas we power the economy of the area.

“The other day, the youths attacked the Fulanis and killed 47 of their cows; it was the quick intervention of the traditional ruler, the Ojogba of Ife, that saved the situation from degenerating further, but the Bakume youths now turned against me as the leader of the Nupes and set ablaze all my six houses, my two cars and destroyed all I have laboured for in life.

“As I speak with you, we don’t know where our wives and children are, they are all scattered in the bush. It is over two weeks since the attack took place and nothing has been heard from the state or local government, while our people are starving and dying.