Nothing less than 19 people have been killed and 4,000 others displaced when rampaging gunmen attacked two villages in Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State. About 10 persons are also said to be critically injured and admitted in hospitals.
The villages of Mafang and Zilang in Fadan Atakar Chiefdom of Kaura Local Government Area were attacked over the alleged killing of two cows through poisoning.
An eyewitness, Luka Bitiong, a resident of Zilang who is now a refugee at Fadan Atakar, said the attacks started on Saturday afternoon and lasted till Sunday night. He added that many residents of the community were terrified by the sound of the guns and they fled for their lives.
When they came, we ran to the hills in Attakar. Many of our people were killed. We left the hills to seek refuge in Attakar because we were scared of going back home.
“Some of those who went back to our village to look at the level of destructions could not return as they were killed by the gunmen,” he said.
Another eyewitness, Matthew Bulus, from Mafang village, said the gunmen were dressed in black and armed with sophisticated weapons.
He said over 80 households in Mafang village had been displaced as their homes were set ablaze by the invaders whom he suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.
Bulus said following the killings and the destruction of their homes, many of the displaced people were currently staying in Amisi Primary School, Fadan Attakar and Mifi villages.
“When the military men came, there was nothing much they could do because they don’t know the terrain in our communities. They asked some of our youths to follow them and guide them, but our boys were scared of accompanying them since they (the boys) have no arms. But the soldiers eventually went to the hills in search of the invaders. We don’t know whether they were able to make any arrest or not,” he narrated.
The District Head of Mafang, Mr. Yusuf Bilong, who ran away from his community to Fadan Attakar, said the attack was deadly.
According to him, “I’ve never heard such sound of guns. The attack was launched on Saturday at about 3:00 p.m. The attackers shot at random killing mostly children and women.”
The chairman of Kaura Local Government Area, Mr. Kumai Badu narrated from one of the camps at Model Primary School, Fadan Atakar, narrated what led to the attack, saying this was the first time Atakar had come under attack from Fulani herdsmen.
Badu said: “There was a young man, Aboi Stephen (21), in Mafan who had been complaining that some cattle have been grazing in his dry season farm. I was told that the cattle destroyed a good portion of the farm, and that there was no end in sight to the destruction. Only the Fulanis own cattle there.
“About two weeks ago, two Fulani cows were found dead, apparently of poison. The owner of the cows was said to have publicly warned Aboi of the grave consequences of his action. I don’t know if it was Aboi that poisoned the cows, or even if they died of poisoning.
“Then one day, Aboi was found missing. After a search by the villagers, they found his corpse with deep machete cuts and his throat was slit open.
“Upon that discovery, women and children mobilised to the palace of the chief of Atakar, Chief Tobias Nkom-Wada accusing him of inviting the Fulani into Atakar land in the first place. They vandalised the palace and the chief is now living in his personal house in Tachire.
“On seeing what the women and children did, the Fulanis started moving out en mass to their kin in Kanawuri areas of Plateau State, which also has some Atakar speaking villages.
“On their way, they shot a young man that same day in Kanawuri area. That pitched them against the Atakar in Plateau State and they fought for days. The fighting led to the burning of some Atakar villages.
They affected ones had to move to this Local Government, where we open the first refugee camp for them at Mifi. But we have merged it with the other two, because it was too vulnerable.
When the Army moved in last week, the Fulanis left Kanawuri in Plateau, state back to this place with their arms.
“Last Saturday, by 3pm, they attacked Mafan, Zalang, Taliki and Zangkan villages up those hills, while able bodied men had gone to the farms or the market. They went on unchallenged from 3pm on Saturday, till Sunday morning.
“When the Army arrived the scene on Sunday morning the Officer in charge told me that they counted 19 bodies. All the Houses in the villages have been burnt.
The spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, Aminu Lawal, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the attacks, although he said that he was not in a position to confirm the number of those killed in the incident.
“I know that there was an attack in the two villages you mentioned at the weekend, I know that people were killed, some were injured, but I am not in a position to tell you the number of those killed for now, but I will let you know soon.
“The two villages are adjoining the troubled areas in Plateau State, located on the hilly and rocky areas of Kaura Local Government Area bordering Plateau and Kaduna States.
“The area has a very difficult terrain, but a Joint Task Force comprising military and the police have been dispatched to the area to maintain order and fish out those behind the dastardly act,” Lawan said.
Meanwhile the Kaduna State Governor, Alhaji Mukhtar Yero, has directed security agencies in the state to do everything possible to bring the perpetrators of the act to justice.
The governor in a statement issued by the Director General, Media and Publicity, Mallam Ahmed Maiyaki, also directed the state Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to immediately provide succour to all those displaced by the attack.
Yero commiserated with those who lost their loved ones and properties in the incident and urged the people of the area to remain calm as security agencies were working hard to unearth those behind the attacks.
The attack was coming on the heels of weekend warning by the Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU) about the influx of Fulani herdsmen to southern Kaduna communities.
President of SOKAPU, Dr. Ephraim Goje, had said the mass exodus of Fulani herdsmen from troubled areas in the neighbouring Plateau State to southern Kaduna communities was posing serious security threat to the people and had urged the Kaduna State government to do something about the situation before things got out of hand.