Lafia – The Nasarawa State Police Command has confirmed the killing of eight persons by unknown gunmen, who attacked Tse Yaji Village near Kadarko Town in the Keana Local Government Area of Nasarawa State on Sunday night.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, ASP. Cornelius Ocholi, confirmed the killing while speaking reporters  in Lafia on Monday.

A similar attack occurred on March 8 in Kadarko, where nine persons were killed in the village market by suspected herdsmen.

The Nasarawa State correspondent of Daily Trust Newspapers, Mr Hir Joseph, was almost killed during the attack on the market when a vehicle he boarded from Keffi on his way to Makurdi ran into an ambush mounted by the gunmen along the Lafia-Makurdi road.

According to Ocholi, the latest attack left a retired Army officer, Ajohol Adoonkor and seven others, including an indigene whose name could not be ascertained, dead.

He said that when the news of the attack reached the police, they had thought the attack was on Kadarko town and as such they mobilised to the area only for the attackers to invade Tse Yaji Village.

Ocholi said, however, that the Police was on top of the situation, putting up measures to forestall further attacks.

NAN reports that the area has been engulfed in incessant clashes between farmers and herdsmen, which prompted both the Nasarawa and Benue State Governments to set up a 10-man peace committee in June 2011.

The committee has been working towards ensuring the restoration of lasting peace among various ethnic groups in the area. (NAN)