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Over 30 persons have been reported killed and property worth millions of Naira destroyed in Gonga, headquarters of Gonga Local Government Area of Taraba State, following bloody clashes between the supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) over last Saturday's chairmanship result in the area.
P.M.News recalls that the problem began on Saturday, shortly after the chairmanship election in the area, when the Returning Officer for the local government, Alhaji Tanimu Gado, declared the ANPP chairmanship candidate, Alhaji Waziri Salisu Mamman, as the duly elected chairman of the local government.
The returning officer, during the declaration in Gonga, said the ANPP polled over 28,000 votes, while PDP scored 4569 votes, adding that the election was free and fair.
P.M.News reports that there was a sudden twist of events when the returning officer brought the Gonga results to Jalingo. It was gathered that Alhaji Gado was forced, through the chairman of the Taraba State Independent Electoral Commission (TSIEC), Alhaji Aliyu Gassol, to revert the results in favour of the PDP chairmanship candidate, Mr. Abdulazeez Abwage.
Tension became high in the area when news reached Gonga on Tuesday night that the results had been overturned in favour of the PDP chairmanship candidate.
Supporters of both parties, who were armed with guns, cutlasses, bows and arrows, on Wednesday evening went on the offensive, killing and burning houses.
It was gathered that by yesterday morning, over 30 persons had been killed, while more than 100 houses, including the local government secretariat and the chairman's official quarters, had been completely razed.
When contacted, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Taraba State, Atiku Nagodi (DSP), confirmed the killings, adding, however, that a detachment of anti-riot policemen had been drafted to the area to curtail the situation.
He noted that the actual casualty figure in the violence was yet to be ascertained.
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