Over 100 killed As Fulani Herdsmen Attack Kaduna Communities

NIGERIA: No fewer than 100 persons were reportedly killed in the early hours of Saturday in three villages of southern Kaduna in Kaura local government area of Kaduna State.

Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Aminu Lawan, a Superintendent of Police (SP), confirmed to journalists on telephone that the attack took place.

He however said that he was still awaiting details from the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the area, stressing that security men had been mobilised to the area.

Vice Chairman of Kaura Local government, Daniel Anyip, who spoke on behalf of the Chairman, Kumai Bodu, who was not readily available, said several houses were set ablaze.

According to him, “From our records, in all the three villages attacked, only five houses are standing, while people killed are about 100.

“These are villages that housed a lot of people but they are now homeless,” Anyip said.

He described the attack as inhuman, saying there was no justification for this inhuman act where even children and women were not spared.

Sources told Sunday Independent that the attackers invaded three villages of Ugwar Sankwai, Ungwar Gata and Chenshyi, all in Kaura LGA, at about 4.30 am on Saturday, shooting at the villagers and setting their houses ablaze.

Eyewitnesses said the villagers, who attempted to run for their lives, were either gunned down or macheted.

One of them said: “The attackers were more than 40, armed with dangerous knives, guns and other sophisticated weapons of mass destruction.

“Over 50 people were killed in our village alone and there is no house standing. All the houses were burnt by the attackers, while people who attempted to run were gunned down.

“I was just lucky to have escaped, but our pastor’s wife, and kids were among the people that were butchered,” a villager who simply gave his name as Nuhu, said.

However, a group, Southern Kaduna Indigenes Progressive Forum (SKIPFo), has described the attack in the three Kaduna South villages as barbaric.

Chairman of the group, Major George Nchok Asake (rtd) said: “We are living in a state of anarchy and we will do everything possible to take the government to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to answer charges on the massive killings of our people on daily basis.

‘It is very painful and difficult that we keep mourning everyday without the government doing anything about it ,” Asake added.

DAILYINDEPENDENT

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