Lafia - The Police in Nasarawa State on Monday confirmed the killing of two people and the burning of five houses in a fresh communal crisis in the state.
The Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, ASP. Cornelius Ocholi, confirmed the development in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lafia.
Ocholi said that the clash involved Agatus/Eggons and Fulani herdsmen at Agbashi in the Ekye Development Area of the state.
"The Commissioner of Police, Mr Abayomi Akeremale, had since drafted a team of security personnel to the troubled area to restore normalcy," he said.
He also confirmed that half of the palace of the paramount ruler of Agbashi, Utushoho of Agbashi, Chief Moses Alade, was set ablaze by the hoodlums.
The spokesman said that the intervention of security agents drafted to quell the crisis saved the palace from being burnt completey.
Ocholi said that some of the suspects had been arrested by the police, adding that those arrested were assisting the police with useful information that would lead to the arrest of the sponsors and other people involved the crisis.
The latest crisis started on January 13, following an allegation that a cattle rearer destroyed a farmland at Agatu, he said.
NAN learnt that six nomads were allegedly killed in the latest crisis.
Residenst of the affected communities had since fled their homes to safe places in Doma and Lafia.
Injured persons were said to be receiving treatment at various health centres in Doma and Lafia Local Government Areas.
- NAN