There seems to be no end yet to the orgy of violence sweeping across the North Central part of Nigeria as about 59 gruesomely murdered people have been discovered in wells and shallow graves in various places in Igga, Nasarawa Eggon council of Nasarawa State following a lingering violence in the area between the Eggon and Gwandara ethnic groups.

A Guardian report quoted top government functionaries who pleaded anonymity as disclosing in the state capital Lafia that it took the intervention of some highly placed people of Eggon extraction to remove some of the corpses from the affected community following the refusal of Eggon youths to allow security operatives access to the troubled places.

45 dead bodies had been discovered Saturday, following intense fighting which began on Friday, government and security sources said, the paper said.

Igga is a community located in Nasarawa Eggon which is the traditional headquarters of the Eggon-speaking people of the state which has continued to experience violence since the return of civil rule in the country in 1999.

The latest crises, according to the police, erupted as a result of tussle over a piece of land allegedly owned by a Gwandara indigene which was encroached upon by an Eggon person following which an argument ensued resulting in the killings.

“Homes especially those belonging to the Gwandara people have been completely deserted with some burnt down even as economic trees in the area have been cut down, with farms destroyed,” the paper reported.

It said that sources pointed accusation fingers on Ombatse, a renowned cult group for carrying out the mayhem against the Gwandara people who are just a fraction in the state.

Both Governor Tanko Al-Makura and security chiefs who attended an emergency security meeting convened at the Government House Lafia over the weekend were silent on who is actually behind the latest uprising.

“Briefing reporters shortly after the closed door session, the State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Idris, announced that the governor was urgently going to meet with President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja to discuss issues relating with the latest uprising,” The Guardian reported, adding:

“He also said the inventory of the dead and property destroyed was still being taken by security authorities and would be made available to the public at the appropriate time, calling on the public to support the security agencies with information.

“He added that all necessary measures were being put in place to return the displaced people.

The Gwandara had just returned to their homes a month ago having fled Igga two-years ago following an earlier conflict that forced them out of the place.”

•Photo shows Nasarawa Governor Al-Makura.

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