Christians Mourn Pastor Killed By Gunmen In Taraba
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The Christian community of Yandang in Lau Local Government Area (LGA) of Taraba State has held a church service in remembrance of a clergyman, Pastor Ifraimu Markus, killed by gunmen.
The killing, which took place in Jauro Bakari community on August 18, is the most recent in the spate of attacks on villages in the northern part of the state in North-East Nigeria.
Before his death, Markus was the Pastor in charge of the United Methodist Church (UMC), Jauro Bakari in Kona district of the state.
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At a funeral on Thursday, colleagues of the slain clergyman – Reverend James Bivock and Reverend Habila Hamman – as well as families and sympathisers gathered to pay tributes to late Markus.
They said they have been in search of five clergymen whose bodies have yet to be found after an attack which took place some years ago.
They, however, said they were in dilemma between bandits and a section of the divided congregational members of the church regarding who perpetrated the attack.
In his reaction, the Director of Connectional Ministries Of UMC, Philip Micah, condemned the continuous attacks on members of the church.
He said the spate was alarming and called the government and security agencies in the state to ensure the security of the people.
A son of the late clergyman, Ayuba Markus, said justice was all that was needed and pleads for more security of lives and property.
The slain clergyman brings to 26 the number of gospel preachers murdered by bandits in Lau LGA.
Some of the several villages attacked by gunmen recently are Yitti, Bujum Waya, Yugorobi, Bujum Kasuwa, Bujum centre among others.
This has rendered the inhabitants of the affected communities in the local government homeless, thereby occupying no fewer than nine Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp with a population of over eight thousand persons.
Lau has been in the eye of the storm for years now, with several lives lost and property worth millions of naira destroyed.