A serving member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Orkeghen Philip Aondofa, has made an urgent public appeal for help, alleging that armed Fulani herders launched a deadly attack on his village, New-Gboko (Nyugoko) in Peva–Chanchanji Ward, Takum Local Government Area of Taraba State, killing his father and four other family members.
Philip, who is currently undergoing his mandatory service in Enugu State, recounted the harrowing details in an emotional interview with Sahara Reporters, expressing despair over the ongoing violence and the perceived silence from the Taraba State Government.
According to the corps member, the assailants, whom he identified as “herders,” invaded the community on November 27, 2025, unleashing violence that forced all surviving residents to flee.
He said that one of the attackers used his late father’s phone to call him after the massacre, only to confess to killing his father directly.
“After the attack, one of them took my father’s phone and called me. When I asked where the owner of the phone was, he told me, he killed my father directly. I broke down and ended the call,” he said.
Philip lamented that the assailants are still occupying the deserted village, which has prevented him from retrieving his father’s corpse for burial.
“What pains me the most now is how I will get my father’s corpse to bury. Those herders are still there in the village. There is nobody left in my village,” he said.
He reported that the killings are rampant “all over Chanchanji ward in Takum LGA of Taraba State,” and that the state government has remained silent on the current incident.
As his service year concludes, Philip says he is left stranded, broke, and without hope, having lost his entire family and home.
He said: “After my service, I don’t know where to go. I don’t know where to start. I am calling on the Federal Government and those concerned to come to my aid. I am broke, I am hopeless. I don’t have anywhere to go; everything is gone. I have lost hope.”
The Takum and neighboring council areas have a long history of recurrent violent attacks, with residents frequently accusing authorities of failing to protect them from armed groups.
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