Four Killed As Rival Political Groups Clash In Nasarawa

Four people have died after a clash between rival political groups in Daddere town in Obi Local Government Area of Nasarawa state, the state police command has said. The Police Public Relations Officer, Ismaila Numan, told Premium Times that trouble started when an Eggon man was allegedly stabbed in the hand
after a political rally in the area to welcome Sidi Bako, one of the self-exiled Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, lawmaker, representing Obi 1 constituency in the state assembly. The command’s spokesperson said Mr. Bako was returning home to Daddere with his supporters when a clash ensued.

Mr. Numan said the police were yet to confirm whether the injured Eggon man was part of those that participated in the political clash that occurred in the morning. “There was a political clash in the morning where an Eggon man was alleged to be injured. Because of the severe cut, the hand was amputated. but what we are not sure is whether the Eggon man is part of those that participated in the clash”.
“You know they are Eggon villages around that area and he is a resident of that area, so he mobilised his tribe’s men and they attacked farmers in the bush and killed four people,” Mr. Numan said.
He explained that the command had recovered the bodies of those killed and deposited them in the morgue of the Specialist Hospital in Lafia, the state capital. He added that the situation had been brought under control as more security operatives were deployed to the area to forestall a reprisal.

A witness, Abdullahi Ibrahim, however, disclosed that the clash was between the supporters of the state commissioner for local government, Mohammed Azumi, and Mr. Bako who hail from Daddere. Mr. Ibrahim said the commissioner belongs to the All Progressives Congress, APC, while the lawmaker belongs to the PDP.
He explained that the crisis started with the defacing of walls with posters of rival parties before it generated into the throwing of clubs and knife at one another, eventually leading to the killing of the four innocent persons.