The Pastor-in-charge of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Takalafia, Nasarawa State, Rev Daniel Danbeki, and 37 others were gruesomely murdered by the assailants during the attack which lasted from 9 pm on Thursday night till the early hours of Friday.
A mass burial was held on Saturday for no fewer than 38 residents of Takalafia and Gwanja communities in the Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa state who were killed by bandits. The victims of the attack included women and children.
The deputy governor of the state, Emmanuel Akabe, led a government delegation to the mass burial which was conducted amid tears from sympathisers and other members of the communities.
Speaking during the mass burial, Akabe condemned the wanton killings and destruction of property worth millions of naira.
He expressed shock over the killings and assured that the state government will investigate the cause of the attacks and bring the perpetrators of the dastardly act to book, adding that relief materials will be provided for displaced people in the area.
Earlier, the Executive Chairman of Karu LGA, James Thomas, who visited the attacked communities before the mass burial, completely condemned the attack by the herdsmen.
Thomas, who was represented by his Deputy, Lawal Karshi, however, appealed for calm and vowed to work closely with the security agencies to arrest the perpetrators of the act in order for them to face the full wrath of the law.
According to a report, the attack was a result of a disagreement between a farmer and a bandit who took his cows to graze on a groundnut and maize farm.
The cows completely ate the crops which angered the farmer, leading to a fierce battle between him and the bandit.
“As the farmer was talking to the bandit to send his cows out of his (farmer’s) farm, a fierce disagreement ensued and the bandit brought out his cutlass and started fighting the farmer; but the farmer overpowered him, snatched his cutlass and fought him back, and the bandit died.
“This was what led to the killings of residents of this area by the bandits,” a source said.
More corpses of victims who escaped with bullet wounds during the attack in Takalafia and Gwanja communities were still being recovered from bushes in the area, and taken to the mortuary of the Federal Medical Centre in Keffi LGA of the state after the mass funeral.