Five people were murdered, with over 50 houses vandalized at Aloko-Oguma in Bassa Local Government Area of Kogi State after harvest from a conflicted cashew plantation, weekend, that led to the crisis between them.
The chaos between the Bassa Kwomu and the Igala over harvest at a conflicted cashew plantation was what led to the battle in the communities, as Igala stated the Bassa Kwomu had earlier killed one of their members and did bury him without any trace of the grave. This got the Igala angry, who reportedly want to carry out revenge as a result of that.
The longtime dispute between both ethnic groups and the cashew harvest became an avenue for both tribes to exhibit their anger on one another, made residents of the Igala community scamper over a perceived reprisal attack by the Bassa Kwomu.
The reprisal attack, that was carried out Friday morning, was said to have killed five persons on the side of Bassa Kwomu, with 50 houses burnt and property worth over millions of naira were destroyed during the fracas, leading to the deployment of armed soldiers and policemen to the various communities in order to prevent further clashes.
Vanguard reported that Samuel Alumka, who is the Sole Administrator of the Local Government, and also the member representing the area in the state House of Assembly, Sunday Shigaba, who visited the community during the weekend, appealed to both tribes to keep their swords.
Confirming the incident that occurred, William Aya the Kogi State Police Public Relation Officer ASP has said that the report that five people died in the tribal clash was not real.
According to him, ” Only one person died in the clash. The deceased is an old woman. So the information that five persons died is out of place.”
Cashew nuts farming is currently a big venture in Kogi State, particularly in the eastern part of the state where lots of cashew trees are planted by locals.
