Many persons have been feared killed and property worth millions destroyed in a renewed communal strife between Mbasombo and Mbaivur clans in Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State.
The long age crisis has defied all solutions proposed by the government over the years.
In 2021 alone, the crisis occurred about seven times with many killed and houses razed.
The Nation’s investigations revealed that the current crisis broke out over the land.
It was gathered that indigenes of both clans laid claim to a land, which escalated into a crisis.
A taxi driver, Paul Newman, who claimed to have lived in Ikpayongo for 20 years, told The Nation: “Some people who claimed to indigenes launched blistering attacks on the so called settlers and bloody violence ensured with many houses set ablaze.”
When The Nation visited Ikpayongo town, which is the epic zone of the crisis, many houses had been razed with people fleeing danger zone in numbers.
.Police spokesperson Kate, a SP, said crisis started last week and policemen have been deployed to the area.
Ikpayongo town, a suburb of Makurdi, is located about 6km on Makurdi- Enugu road with inhabitants predominantly peasant farmers.