A policeman in Gombe Wednesday morning died of gunshot wounds sustained during a communal clash over farmland that occurred over the weekend between Billiri and Shongom communities of Gombe state.
Briefing the press over the incident Thursday afternoon, the Gombe State Police Commissioner, Austin Iwar said the over two decade long lingering crisis resulted in the destruction of many properties especially houses. But an unconfirmed report available to our reporter has it that several persons may have lost their lives in the crises.
Though no arrest had been made up to the time of the press briefing, the Police Commissioner explained that the Police had already been drafted to the disputed area to maintain peace while an investigative team had been set up to get to the remote causes of the recurring crises that has become an annual incident at the beginning of every farming season in the last twenty years.
According to the Police Commissioner, on Friday, 23rd June 2017, he received a distress call around 9:00 am from the Billiri DPO that over 50 heavily armed men from Shongom chased away farmers in a farmland.
He explained further that on arrival, the Police met the armed men from Shongom but when an attempt was made to stop them, the Police had to withdraw to avoid blood-shed following the threats by the heavily armed men.
He said the crises could not abate the next day Saturday because while a peace meeting between leaders of both communities was going on, Kufai village in Billiri Local Government Area was invaded by Shongom people where they razed down many houses.
He said he had personally spoken with the two paramount traditional leaders of the area, the Mai Kaltungo and the Mai Tangle who both expressed dismay over the crises and promised to talk to their subjects.
“I have personally reported the matter to the Inspector-General of Police who expressed surprise and promised to send resources to us here”, the Police Commissioner stated.
