Tears flowed freely on Saturday as grieving residents of Munga Lalau and Munga Doso communities in Karim-Lamido Local Government Area of Taraba State buried scores of villagers killed by suspected herdsmen.

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The communities were thrown into mourning after the assailants stormed the villages around 2am on Friday. Eyewitnesses said the attackers, numbering over 50, invaded the villages on motorcycles and opened fire indiscriminately on sleeping residents.

“We have counted 42 bodies so far, with many still missing,” a soldier who participated in the rescue operation told Sunday PUNCH.

The Chairman of the Munga Youth Forum, Suleiman Joel, confirmed that many people were killed.

He said, “We are still recovering the dead bodies, but I can tell you that the casualty figure is high. These are not isolated killings. It is a calculated extermination. People who returned to their homes based on security assurances have now been killed. What do we tell their families?”

Residents, who spoke to Sunday PUNCH, said the attackers, armed with AK-47 rifles and machetes, moved from house to house, burning homes and killing anyone in sight.

“We didn’t know where to run to,” said Soja Emmanuel, a survivor. “They came around 2am, shooting sporadically. People jumped out of their homes into the bush. Some didn’t make it.”

Families express anger at burial

During the burial on Saturday, some of the victims’ families were filled with sorrow as they recounted the way their relatives were killed.
A community leader, who lost two of his brothers in the attack, Augustine Munga, called for swift government intervention to end the bloodshed and bring the perpetrators to justice.

“The mass burial took place here in Munga Lalau and was conducted by soldiers and other security personnel,” Munga added. Another resident, who lost four relatives, suggested that the attackers were hired by herders to unleash mayhem on the communities.

“We all slept in the bush yesterday. The sound of gunshots that rent the air was beyond conventional herdsmen. We fled to the mountains and returned home this morning to see our houses razed,” he sobbed, struggling to utter words during a phone interview with one of our correspondents.