The Bauchi State Police Command has disagreed with a Member of the State House of Assembly, Gazali Wunti, who said that an undisclosed number of people were killed in a border clash between Gungura community in Ganjuwa local government area of the state and Buri-Buri community of Dukku Local Government of Gombe State.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that Wunti, who represents Ganjuwa East Constituency, said people from Dukku LGA of Gombe State attacked a village called Bara in Gungura ward.
Speaking under matters of urgent public importance on the floor of the House on Wednesday, he said the incident happened on Tuesday at about 3:00am, added that the incident had been recurring for some time but efforts to settle the disputes have failed.
The Lawmaker said, “So many committees were formed in the past to resolved the border disputes but all efforts ended in futility.
“They have been attacking the people of the area and destroying their properties and now it even include loss of lives.”
But the Police Public Relations Officer, Bauchi State Command, Ahmed Wakil, who confirmed the incident, however, said no life was lost in the incident.
Speaking with journalists on Thursday said, Wakil said, “It is not true that lives were lost in the crisis that involved the communities. The truth of the matter is that, some communities from Gombe State cross the river, invaded some farms of Bauchi communities in Ganjuwa Local Government areas.
“The attackers started shooting sporadically in the air, they destroyed the farms and left. They did not kill anybody from the report received by the command.
“The District head of one of the affected communities informed the police who visited the area and restored law and order.
“After the incident, the commissioner of police of Bauchi and Gombe State summoned a meeting between the police commands, Special advisers on security who represented the State Governors, Commissioner of youth sports, local governments chairmen traditional and community leaders from the areas and all the relevant stakeholders, where they held a fruitful discussion on how to ensure sustainable peace in the area.”
The Police Spokesman said that part of the resolution of the meeting was to lodge a formal complaint to the National Boundary Commission.
According to him, another meeting between the Governors of Bauchi and Gombe State, council chairmen of the affected communities, traditional and community leaders from the area, will be held separately to discuss the way forward as part of efforts to ensure sustainable peace among the communities.
He said the commissioner of Police of the two states will deploy policemen in the area where the attackers are crossing to prevent the other communities from crossing over to cause any problems.
Wakil who said that some policemen has been deployed to the affected communities to restore peace, appealed for calm and solicited for cooperation from all stakeholders to maintain peace.
Source: Punch Newspapers