39 killed, 30 injured, 30 houses burnt in fresh Wukari crisis in Taraba, Police say

The police said normalcy had returned to the town.

The police in Taraba State on Saturday said 39 people were killed and 30 injured in a fresh crisis that rocked Wukari on Friday.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Joseph Kwaji, confirmed the casualty figures to the News Agency of Nigeria in Jalingo.

Mr. Kwaji, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, added that the injured persons were receiving treatment in various hospitals in the town.

“Thirty nine corpses have been seen so far and 30 persons injured,” he said.

The police spokesman added that about 30 houses were burnt by hoodlums. He said 30 persons had been arrested in connection with the crisis.

“The situation is relatively calm at the moment as officers have been deployed to the area,” he said.

Crisis broke out in Wukari on Friday during a funeral procession for a third class chief of the Jukun traditional council.

A resident of the town had told PREMIUM TIMES on Friday that the crisis occurred between the Jukuns and non-Jukuns in the town.

“The Jukun people were observing funeral rites for one of their prominent sons who died recently and some of them went to the areas populated by non-Jukuns and they started chanting insulting songs which irked some of the youth in the area and a scuffle ensued,” the resident, who did not want his name mentioned for security reasons, said.

He said the initial scuffle was resolved by elders of the two groups before it later degenerated into gun battles.

(NAN)