Fresh crisis erupts in Benue town
From Simeon Nwakandu,
Makurdi
A FRESH communal crisis has broken out in Otukpo Local Council area of Benue State, with over 100 houses burnt by the combatants.
An eyewitness told The Guardian that the crisis, which erupted at Otukpo Icho, a few kilometres from Otukpo town, the seat of Odi Idoma, at the weekend, was a fallout of disagreements between two factions in the village.
It was learnt that shortly after a traditional festival last week, both factions started struggling over which was to take possession of the ancestral shrine.
And when one of the factions succeeded in taking over the shrine, the other faction allegedly struck, burning the houses of members of the faction that took possession of the shrine.
A source said that the reprisal attack from the other faction left the entire Otukpo desolate as almost all houses were torched.
When The Guardian visited Otukpo yesterday, inhabitants of the area could not be sighted as they had escaped to take refuge in the houses of their relatives at Otukpo town.
The Interim Administrator of Otukpo Local Council, Mr. Alexander Ifu, in company of policemen, visited the area and assessed the damage.
He said the council, in conjunction with the police, would work hard to stop the crisis from escalating.
The Guardian however, gathered that no lives were lost in the crisis.
Only last week, crisis over a piece of land in Makurdi claimed over 20 lives.
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