Hundreds of displaced women at Yelwata community, on Monday, blocked the Makurdi-Lafia expressway, demonstrating against the recent unprovoked attack on the community which claimed three lives and left others injured.
This is after more than 200 lives were lost barely 2 months ago.
The women who blocked the road with the corpses and sang emotionally charged songs also raised concerns over the lingering insecurity amidst security presence.
One of the protesters, Maria Ihyom, who spoke during the protest, said they were calling for government’s attention to their plight of being killed daily, insisting that the army should leave as it appears they are not doing enough to ensure their safety.
“Let the army go. Since we are not feeling their presence, we don’t need them again.”
A resident of Yelwata and eye witness, Paul Kikin, said the women took to the protest against the most recent killings, with the agitation that the military be redeployed to the barracks, calling for deployment of mobile police personnel to the area.
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“This morning, the Fulani herdsmen came and attacked our people, not in the farms, but in their houses.
“So, the women took the corpses to the road and they are here protesting. They are saying even if the governor comes, the only thing that will make them open the way is if the soldiers relocate from the area,” he said.
On his part, another resident of the area, Aondonengen Zer, lamented the helplessness of the Yelwata community and the Tiv nation in general, stressing that each time security personnel in the area make moves said to be geared towards protecting them, more attacks happen subsequently.
He said: “Our problem is that we, in Yelwata and the Tiv people generally do not have a voice; our security men move around and assure us of safety, only for us to be killed more the next day, so we prefer they leave.”
Tensions were flaring as corpses were being discovered and brought forward.
The protest, which was still ongoing at the time of filing this report, obstructed traffic and commuters remained stranded as the women were expressing their grief and calling on the Alia-led administration to respond to their cries and end the bloodshed.
