The Adamawa State Government has slammed a 24-hour curfew on Lamurde Local Government Area following a renewed communal clash in the area.
Spokesperson in the Office of the Deputy Governor, Hussaini Hammangabdo announced this in Yola, saying the order takes effect immediately.
21st CENTURY CHRONICLE reports that the fresh outbreak was an offshoot of a festering feud between the Bachama and Tsobo (Chobo) ethnic groups over farmland which has claimed dozens of lives this year alone.
Reports from a section of the media quotes locals saying that the attackers advanced from the creeks bordering Gombe and overran several settlements from the western axis, sacking Tingno, Waduku and two other villages.
According to a local, “they’ve burnt Waduku and Tingno to ashes. Our youths mobilised quickly to stop them from pushing into Rigange.”
Another local said the assailants attempted to move towards Lamurde, the LGA headquarters, but were repelled.
“But Tingno and Waduku were completely destroyed,” he revealed.
Hammangabdo said security agencies have already been ordered to restore law and order in the local government area with an immediate effect, just as the state government has urged residents to maintain peace and calm in the area.
The crisis was traced to a heated quarrel among youths in July which snowballed into a full-scale clash, resulting in the death of 13 persons in August and displacing hundreds.
A curfew was imposed in mid-July following the killing of 10 persons, but fragile truces have repeatedly frayed, leading to the deep-seated tensions over arable land in this agricultural heartland.
The statement said the order bars residents from the streets until further notice, with exemptions only for essential workers under strict verification. “The government is appealing for peace and calm in the area,” Hammangabdo urged, emphasizing dialogue over division.
Meanwhile, the police in Adamawa State has warned residents especially those within Lamurde Local Government Area to stay indoors in order to prevent further break down of law and order.
The spokesperson of the command SP Suleiman Yahaya Nguroje stated this in Yola, the state capital on Monday.
The warning follows the imposition of a 24-hour curfew imposed on the LGA by the state government.
21st CENTURY CHRONICLE reports that the state government imposed the curfew following the outbreak of a fresh communal clash in the LGA.
Nuguroje said the state Commissioner of Police Dankombo Morris has deployed more opertaivs to the area to monitor compliance and enforce the curfew using all legal means
“The command in collaboration with sister security agencies while respecting the rights of the citizens equally enjoy them to avoid all forms of action capable of threatening the security in the area.”
The Command warned that it would not “in any way allow miscreants and misguided elements to operate unchallenged while enforcing the curfew”
