Six Killed, Over 50 Houses Razed in Cashew Farm Clash in Kogi
No fewer than six persons have been confirmed
killed while over 50 houses were razed at Aloko-Oguma in Bassa Local Government
Area of Kogi State following a communal clash that engulfed the community over
cashew farm.
According to an eye witnessed account, crisis
erupted last Friday following a dispute between the Bassa Kwomus and the Igalas
over the harvest of a disputed cashew nuts farm.
It was reliably gathered yesterday that the Igala
people claimed that the Bassa Kwomus in the ensuing fracas killed one of their
members and buried him secretly without a trace of the grave.
The situation was said to have angered the Igala
people who were said to have allegedly mobilised, and in a reprisal, killed
five Bassa Kwomus and razed over 50 houses belonging to the Bassa Kwomus.
Properties worth millions of naira belonging to the
Bassa Kwomus were burnt in the fracas.
However, it was gathered that there has been long
time tribal rivalry between the Bassa Kwomus and the Igala people in the
community. The cashew harvest fracas was
an opportunity for both tribes to unleash their anger on each other.
As at yesterday, according to a source, the entire
Igala community was deserted because of palpable fears of reprisal by the Bassa
Kwomus while the Bassa Kwomus whose houses were raised are currently rendered
homeless.
Cashew nuts farming is currently a big business in
Kogi State particularly in the eastern part of the state where a lots of cashew
trees were planted.
Already, officers of Nigeria army and the Mobile
Policemen Force have been drafted to the troubled communities to avoid further
clashes.
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