A communal clash erupted between Shomo and Jole communities in Lau Local Government Area, Taraba State, over the ownership and control of ancestral fishing ponds. The violence resulted in the deaths of at least 25 people and the razing of over 100 houses. Police Public Relations Officer DSP David Misal confirmed the incident, stating that the Commissioner of Police had dispatched a team of policemen to the area to restore normalcy. A 24‑hour curfew was imposed on the two communities, and the Commissioner of Police ordered a full-scale investigation. Several suspects were arrested in connection with the killings and arson.
15 Apr 2020 · Shomo and Jole, Lau, Taraba
Deaths
25
Kidnapped
0
Total casualties
25
Perpetrators
Communal/Ethnic Militias
Response
Governor Darius Ishaku imposed a 24-hour curfew on the affected areas. A joint security team of police and military was deployed to the riverine axis, and several arrests were made in connection with the arson.
Socioeconomic drivers
Competition over ancestral fishing rights, ethnic rivalries, weak conflict resolution mechanisms.
Trajectory
The 2020 Lau crisis showed that while the state was focused on the COVID-19 lockdown and the Big wars (Boko Haram/Banditry), localized resource wars were becoming more lethal due to the proliferation of small arms. The use of petrol bombs to raze 100 houses indicates a shift from scuffles to total community displacement tactics.
Cycle notes
This incident mirrors the 1991 and 2001 Tiv-Jukun clashes over land, but replaces soil with water. It is connected to the Maitatsine/Boko Haram trajectory through the radicalization of the marginalized: when the state cannot provide a court-ordered solution to a fishing dispute, youth look toward ethnic militias for justice.
Pattern
Ethnic Resource Conflict
Related — Communal Violence
Mallam Wuryeba Adunga Yerima Aston was killed by Tiv militias in Ason, Wukari LGA, Taraba State, and his body dumped in a well.
Suspected Boko Haram gunmen targeted the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in the Railway Quarters area of Maiduguri. The attackers killed the resident pastor, Rev. David Usman (45), and the church secretary, Mr. Hamman Andrew. A fellow pastor recounted that the victims were shot and killed by members of Boko Haram near the Railway Quarters, where the slain pastor’s church is located. This was the second attack on Pastor Usman’s church premises, the first occurring in July 2009 when militants burned the building and killed several congregants.
Tiv militia captured 19 soldiers at Vaase, moved them to Zaki-Biam, and killed them.