Two persons were on Tuesday confirmed dead and several wounded in a communal clash at a border community between Pankshin and Kanke Local Government Areas of Plateau.  The Chairman of Pankshin Local Government, Samuel Goar, confirmed the incident to journalists in Pankshin. He said the clash was between Ngas and Pai people in Shiwer community of Pankshin Local Government and Dokpai community in Kanke council. The chairman said that mostly affected areas in the crisis include Piri, Tigiya and Irnet villages within the Shiwer and Dokpai districts.

Two persons were on Tuesday confirmed dead and several wounded in a communal clash at a border community between Pankshin and Kanke Local Government Areas of Plateau.  The Chairman of Pankshin Local Government, Samuel Goar, confirmed the incident to journalists in Pankshin. He said the clash was between Ngas and Pai people in Shiwer community of Pankshin Local Government and Dokpai community in Kanke council. The chairman said that mostly affected areas in the crisis include Piri, Tigiya and Irnet villages within the Shiwer and Dokpai districts.

He said that it took the intervention of the security operatives and management of the two councils to stop the clash. The chairman said the incident occurred in the early hours of Monday and left over 50 houses burnt with many people displaced. He said that the area in dispute was a piece of land covering three villages. He said the clash was unfortunate and a sad one, noting that the communities had been living together for a very long time without any problem until now. “We are not happy about the incident which left in its trail two dead bodies and several others injured with houses and other property destroyed. “All we are trying to do now is to see how we can cater for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the affected two warring communities,” he said.
The chairman thanked the security agents from the two councils for their swift intervention, especially the Special Task Force (STF) and the police, which controlled the crisis. He also thanked the elders from the two communities for their cooperation and for listening to the government and security operatives on the matter.

Mr. Goar said he would liaise with his counterpart in Kanke to ensure that relief materials were provided to the displaced persons and cater for the injured in Pankshin General Hospital. When contacted, spokesperson of the STF, Salisu Mustapha, also confirmed the crisis, saying that soldiers restored normalcy to the communities. He, however, said that no arrest had been made, while investigation into the cause of the incident had begun.

count | 42

2 dead and 50 houses burnt in Pankshin/Kangke communal clashes