No fewer than 20 persons have been reported killed following coordinated attacks by suspected ethnic militias on Kwah and Gyakan communities in Lamurde Local Government Area of Adamawa State.
The affected council, considered one of the most volatile areas in the state, has recorded repeated clashes in recent months, with more than 10 violent incidents reported within the last six months.
A dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed on the area since December remains in force amid recurring violence that has claimed several lives.
Residents said the attackers stormed Gyakan community in the early hours of Saturday, setting houses ablaze and forcing residents to flee. The assailants were said to have later advanced to Kwah, about 20 kilometres away, where they continued the attack, looting property and burning homes.
Sources indicated that the casualty figure could rise, as more bodies were recovered after security operatives eventually arrived at the scene.
A resident, Onisimus Onisimond, disclosed that additional corpses were discovered on Sunday afternoon, with fears that more victims may still be found.
Also speaking, a former supervisory councillor in the area, Carlos Nicodemus, described the attack as coordinated and brutal.
According to him, hundreds of armed men invaded Gyakan between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., riding on motorcycles and armed with rifles and machetes.
“The attackers came in large numbers, shooting and burning houses. In Gyakan alone, we recovered several bodies, while others were killed in Kwah. Over 400 houses were destroyed,” he said.
Nicodemus added that the delayed arrival of security personnel, reportedly more than 30 hours after the incident, hampered rescue efforts and delayed the recovery and burial of victims.
He noted that additional bodies were found after troops regained control of the communities, bringing the death toll to about 20.
The crisis, believed to be rooted in protracted land disputes spanning decades, has reportedly claimed thousands of lives over time, prompting the state government to establish a commission of inquiry.
Reacting, a former village head of Gyakan, Wali Batakuma, described the incident as shocking and unusually violent.
He said the attackers, suspected to be from a rival ethnic group, launched a coordinated assault, shooting residents, razing homes and attacking those attempting to flee.
Batakuma lamented that the affected communities were caught unprepared and criticised the late response of security agencies, noting that significant damage had already been done before intervention.
Efforts to get reactions from the opposing group were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.
