Kaduna Attacks: Villagers Trace Cause of Crisis

Community leaders in Southern Kaduna have traced the cause of the recent attacks at Ungwan Pah II - Gwandara, in Jemaa Local Government Area of the state to the incident in November 2018, when four persons including three children were killed in separate attacks in the surrounding villages.

Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen had on Sunday attacked and killed 15 persons and injured 24 others in a surprise attack on Ungwan Pah II - Gwandara.

The Chairman, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Jema’a Local Government, Alhaji Abdullahi Bayero, told Daily Trust on Sunday that before the killing of the four persons, there had been a crisis between two families which resulted in the killing of one Fulani man.

Another source who does not want to be named said about a year after the clash and on Monday, 26th November, 2018, a 60-yearold indigene of Dogon Awo, Kogum River in Godogodo Chiefdom, Jema’a Local Government Area, one Mr. Yakubu Musa, was shot to death by unknown gunmen.

He said later on the same day, some youths of that community went to a Fulani settlement, Rugan Idris and shot two children, Shu’aibu Idris, 9 and Balki Idris, 7, the male child died instantly while the girl was rushed to a hospital where she later died.

“On the same day, two old Fulani women chartered a Kabu-Kabu (motorcycle) coming from Rugan Alhaji and passing through one village called Gindin Dutse, near Dogon Awo of Kogum River, they were attacked, killed and dumped in an abandoned well by some youths of the village.

He said, “the three corpses of Doka Alhaji Ahmadu, Asiya Alhaji Ahmadu and that of a commercial motorcycle operator, Abubakar Abbas (an indigene of Jigawa State) who was residing in Kogum River, were recovered and handed over to the police.”

Troops have since been deployed to the area. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Yakubu Sabo, did not pick his phone when our correspondent called to confirm if any arrest had been made in connection with the crisis, but sources say investigations are on-going towards apprehending those behind the attacks.

Some of the victims are also being attended to by the Jema’a Local Government Council and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).