By Peter Duru

MAKURDI—A four-year-old boy was, last Sunday night, was burnt to death in a bloody communal crisis that erupted between indigenes and settlers at Abinsi in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.

The crisis left many with life threatening matchet cuts, while several houses, huts and farmland were also razed by the feuding parties.

Vanguard gathered from a reliable source that there had been bottled up anger and tension in the community, which is a few kilometres from Makurdi town, in the last few weeks, following several years of unending disputes over land ownership.

Father of the deceased, Mr. Akpera Jime, told reporters that some youths, numbering over 10, on Sunday night, stormed his community burning houses and farmland.

“Some of us were lucky to have escaped, while my four-year-old boy was burnt inside one of our houses beyond recognition,” he said.

He added that his 31-year-old son, Terna, who was attacked with a machete, was receiving treatment at a private hospital.

When contacted, the clan head of Abinsi, Chief Christopher Abaki, who confirmed the incident, said the crisis had been brought under control, following the deployment of security personnel in the area.

The State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Assistant Superintendent, Austin Ezeani, said men of the Mobile Police Force had been deployed in the area on the orders of the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hyacinth Dagala, to ensure that peace returned to the affected communities.

Ezeani said the Police were investigating the crisis, but cautioned youths in the state against taking up arms against each other no matter the level of provocation.