Bassa Community Leaders Cry Out Over Renewed Attacks

Just weeks after crying out over an attack on one of their villages in Toto Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, leaders of the Bassa Cultural and Development Union (BCDU) have raised alarm as another village has come under attack.

In a press release signed by the BCDU Chairman, Emmanuel Gbaji, the Bassa community leaders condemned the attack on Katapka village which left three dead and many properties destroyed.

The press release reads:

1. WE, the Bassa Community of Nasarawa State have barely recovered from the shock of the attack on OKUDU Village when we received news of the attack on KATAPKA VIllage on the 1st of February 2024. The unfortunate event came with the loss of three (3) lives and wanton destruction of property.
2. WE want to send our deep condolences to the families and relatives of the victims and ask God to give them the fortitude to bear their loss. We are deeply pained by their loss and we pray that God would comfort them.
3. WE, the Bassa Community of Nasarawa State condemn the attack as lawless, godless and a calculated attempt to frustrate and hinder the Peaceful Return and Resettlement of the Displaced Bassa Community.
4. The attacks are part of a satanic project to make PEACEFUL DIALOGUE between the Bassa and Egbira communities impossible.
5. WE want to ask the following pertinent questions. Why are these attacks coming now after we have had over four years of relative peace in Toto Local Government Area? Why are these attacks coming when our Royal Fathers are meeting to resolve all the outstanding disputes? Who are those behind these attacks? What are their motives? These are questions begging for answers.
6. WE want to assure the whole world that the ENTIRE Bassa Community of Nasarawa State and Toto LGA in particular have chosen the PEACE OPTION.
7. WE also want to send our deep sympathies to the Royal Fathers, the Executive Chairman of Toto Local Government Area and the Elders and Youth of the Katakpa Community. WE urge them NOT TO BE DISCOURAGED by this unfortunate setback. WE are firmly resolved to live in peace with them. WE are NOT lying. WE are NOT being deceitful. WE are sincere. It is natural to want to seek revenge, but in this case, seeking revenge will only create the atmosphere of chaos that the wicked brains behind the whole crisis want.
8. WE enjoin our neighbors to please help us to actualize the Peace Process and Initiatives being worked out by the Royal Fathers under the leadership of His Excellency Engr. A. A Sule. Seeking revenge now will only make the enemies of the Peace Process to win.

9. We want to call on His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, Engr. AA Sule, as the Chief Security Officer of the state, to use his good offices to fish out the perpetrators of these criminal attacks so that peace can return to Toto Local Government Area.

Recall that Okudu village a Bassa community in Toto Local Government Area had been attacked by criminal elements in January 2024. The BCDU came out then to dispel the notion that it was a clash between the Gbagyi and Bassa communities.