THISDAY

Fulani Herdsmen Kill 15 in Kaduna, 10 in Plateau

- John Shiklam in Kaduna and Seriki Adinoyi in Jos

About 15 people have been reported killed in AmbeMadaki Village in Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna state in a fresh attack by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

Also yesterday, at least 10 persons were killed and over 20 houses burnt in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State following hostilitie­s between the same Fulani herdsmen and the natives.

The Kaduna incident which was said to have occurred at about 4 a.m came barely one week after 10 people were killed in Tattaura Village in the same locality allegedly by Fulani herdsmen.

A resident of the area, Mr. Yohanna Adamu who narrated how the incident took place in a telephone interview said the Fulani invaders who were armed with sophistica­ted guns arrived the village early

the morning and started shooting sporadical­ly and setting houses ablaze.

Adamu said several other people sustained injuries from gun shots while over 20 houses were set ablaze.

He said the incident sparked off mass protest by various communitie­s in the area who matched to Gwantu, the headquarte­rs of Sanga Local Government to register their displeasur­e over the attacks in spite of the peace agreement signed with the Fulanis never to attack anyone.

According to him, the protest almost turned into a religious crisis, adding that the prompt interventi­on of the special Military Task Force on security averted the crisis.

"We are surprised that despite the agreement that our communitie­s entered into with the Fulanis not to attack each other, they have

been attacking us. They came to our village armed with sophistica­ted weapons and started shooting and burning houses.

"We have not compiled the casualty figure yet because some people are still missing, but we have 15 corpses already. This is the second time they are attacking us after we signed the agreement to live in peace. Last week, they attacked Tattaura Village and killed 10 people,” Adamu said.

He added that because of the growing uncertaint­y over their security, the villagers had been relocating to other places for safety.

Adamu called on the authoritie­s concerned to address the security situation in Sanga Local Government Area before the situation gets out of hand.

Although the spokesman of the Kaduna State Command, DSP Aminu Lawan could not be reached for comments, but a security source in Sanga who said he was not authorised to speak to journalist­s confirmed the incident.

He said some people were killed in the attack, adding however that he was not in the position to confirm the casualty figure.

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