Less than 48 hours to the New Year, a communal clash has erupted in Gwako, in the Gwagwalada Area Council of Abujabetween the Fulani and the Gwari in the area.
The cause of the clash, which affected 27 communities, is not immediately known but two persons have been killed and 1500 others displaced from their homes, the National Emergency Management Agency said in a statement on Sunday night.
The displaced people are currently housed in a temporary camp on the permanent campus of the University of Abuja in Gwagwalada.
The agency did not provide details of the number of residents injured in the clash. It however said NEMA and the Ministry of Capital Territory had immediately jointly activated their Search and Rescue teams.
“The prompt intervention of the two agencies including security personnel from the police, civil defence corp and military had helped to curtail the escalation of the crisis which started Saturday as a result of encroachment of herd of cattle into farmlands in the area,” NEMA spokesperson, Yushau Shuaibu, said in a statement.
Mr. Shuaibu quoted NEMA Director General, Muhammad Sani-Sidi, as commending the FCT Minister, Bala Muhammad, for the promptness of his agencies and his physical presence at scenes of the clash.
He also reportedly appealed to the warring parties to live peacefully with one another and eschew any form of violent as they enter the New Year.
The FCT minister, Mr. Muhammad, who led other government agencies to assess the impact of the incidence, reportedly appealed to the communities to remain calm, saying the government would address the causes of the crisis so they could return to their homes.
The minister also requested NEMA to provide more amenities to the victims in camp even as he constituted an emergency team for conflict resolution and relief distribution to the affected communities.
NAN
