According to a report by Punch Metro, there was wailing on Friday
afternoon in Janibanibu village in Taraba State as the Catholic Church
held funeral service for nine victims of the recent attacks on
Janibanibu and Kasuan Bera communities by suspected herdsmen.
In his sermon during the service, Rev. Fr. Batare Eugene encouraged
the people to forgive one another and return to God who alone he said
could give and take life.
Batare said the grief following the attacks on Kona communities
called for sober reflection and urged the people to unite against the
common enemy trying to decimate them.
“I enjoin you to make peace with one another and trust God who alone can deliver us from the hands of the enemy.”
Fr. Cyriacus Kamai, the Parish Priest of St. John the Baptist
Pastoral Area, Janibanibu, in his remarks condemned the blockage of the
Jalingo – ATC – Wukari Road by irate youths during the crisis which led
to the attack on innocent people.
Kamai who read the message of Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama and
Bishop Charles Hammawa of Jalingo Diocese condemned the action of the
youths. They called for calm and understanding.
“The Archbishop Kaigama and Bishop Hammawa all condemned the
needless violence and burning of mosques by irate youths in protest over
attacks on Kona communities.
“The two religious leaders urged parents and stakeholders to
call the youths to order. The crisis is not a religious crisis and the
state cannot afford to go into a religious crisis.
“Those attacking the communities are not in the town and we
must avoid the temptation of attacking people inside the town to paint
an impression of a religious crisis,” he said.
Our correspondent reports that five people were buried on Tuesday
while four were buried on Friday in a mass grave in Janibanibu village.
It would be recalled that there were attacks on Janibanibu and
Kasuan Bera communities on Sunday and Monday forcing people to flee the
areas into the city center in Jalingo.
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