Emergency Agency Puts Taraba Death Toll at Sixty-Two
At least 62 people were killed and 52 wounded when gunmen attacked the Binnari community in Taraba state, north-eastern Nigeria, on Friday, according to the state head of the national emergency agency. Thousands have been displaced. Fifty-two bodies have been recovered so far, fifteen of them from the Benue River.
We declined this story on Sunday, and the reason is worth revisiting now that it has resolved. Two days ago the figures in circulation were irreconcilable — police had recovered at least ten bodies, survivors told a news agency at least twenty, and a human rights organisation’s country director said up to fifty — and publishing any of them would have meant choosing one. The official count has now settled above all three. It is still not final: a state police spokesman says the figure is not definite because bodies are being recovered, which is also why the toll of at least 62 sits above the 52 bodies so far accounted for. The attack is attributed to the armed groups locally called bandits, and a rights organisation’s Nigeria director notes the gunmen used the river to their advantage, which explains the recoveries from the water. The lesson we take from the delay is that waiting cost us two days and bought an official figure.