Attack on Adamawa travellers: Religious council decries failure to arrest killers

The Adamawa State Muslim Council has faulted the police and other security agencies for their failure to arrest killers of four Muslim travellers in Bali community along the Adamawa-Taraba border.

The militia operating as vigilantes allegedly beheaded four traders on Monday despite intervention of the district head.

The victims from Kano, Katsina and Gombe states were on their way to a cattle market in Taraba State, when they were attacked by the militia. Their corpses have been evacuated and buried according to Islamic injunction.

Speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday, the secretary of the Muslim Council, Ismaila Modibbo, wondered why the police failed to arrest the killers “when the militia are well known to community leaders and residents since they operate as local vigilantes”.

Ismaila alleged that three weeks before the latest incident, the armed group killed a man and severed his head, saying only the body was found for burial.

The police spokesman in Adamawa, SP Othman Abubakar, had confirmed the attack, saying five persons were killed by local youths in Demsa area while seven sustained injuries. He warned against reprisal attacks, saying police were making efforts to apprehend the killers.

The driver of the vehicle who identified himself as Adamu said the victims were traders on their way to a cattle market in Taraba State, when at around 10am, the militia operating as vigilantes ambushed their vehicle.

Adamu said during the ambush, he succeeded in turning the truck and drove to Pasham village where they sought refuge but the vigilantes beheaded four of them despite pleas from the district head of Pasham,

He thanked the leadership of the Muslim Council for visiting Numan General Hospital to commiserate with the injured and prepare the corpses of slain persons for burial.

Until the recent attack, Numan and Demsa areas enjoyed relative peace.