A RETIRED colonel is training 6 000 militiamen in Nigeria’s central Taraba State, which is locked in a bloody inter-ethnic feud with neighbouring Benue State, Radio Nigeria reported on Thursday. The radio quoted the commander of the 232 battalion in Yola, Brigadier General D. Yaji, as having told Taraba State Governor Jolly Nyame that that the unnamed retired colonel was training ethnic Tiv militiamen at a location near Takum, a major town in the state. Two weeks ago, Tiv militiamen in Benue State abducted and murdered 19 soldiers deployed to maintain peace along the borders of Benue and Taraba states. In a reprisal attack, soldiers last week massacred some 200 civilians in some towns and villages in Benue. The army commander also said that ethnic Tivs were still carrying out raids on some villages despite government efforts to halt hostilities, according to the radio report. – AFP