Again, Suspected Herdsmen Kill Six in Kaduna

John Shiklam in Kaduna

Barely two weeks after 11 persons were killed in Kaduna by suspected herdsmen, another six were killed by suspected herdsmen in Godogodo, Jama’a Local Government Area in Kaduna State at the weekend.

The victims, mainly youths, were said to have been attacked at their farms last Saturday.
The herdsmen reportedly launched the attack on the farms, killing six persons while several others were said to have escaped with gunshot wounds.

A community leader and a relation of one of the deceased, who craved for anonymity, gave the names of those killed as Monday Hamza, 24, Toma Masara, 35, Chaka Rubutu, 26, Julius Golkofa, 19, Boboo Okocha, 18, and Sambo James, 17.

According to the community leader, “Last Saturday, these young men that were killed went out as a group to their farms with a few others.

“We were told that armed Fulani men attacked them on their farms and some of them escaped with bullet wounds. A search party on Sunday found them ridden with bullets and machete cuts and they were all dead. The police took their corpses to the mortuary in Kafanchan.”

He said the incident had created fear and apprehension in the surrounding villages, with hundreds of people migrating to Godogodo for fear of being attacked by the herdsmen.

“As I am talking to you, Godogodo is full to the brim with refugees who have fled their villages seeking safety here because it is a bigger village on the highway and has better security. There is no day that someone is not killed by Fulani men around here.

“After the attack, they would cut down all the crops or move their cattle into the farms to eat the crops. They are going about from farm to farm, destroying our crops and killing people with their sophisticated weapons.

“There will be hunger this year because we cannot go to farm and our crops are being destroyed by the herdsmen.

“What they are saying is our villages are now cattle grazing reserves and they want everybody out,” the community leader volunteered.

However, while reacting to the incident, Chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Dr. Haruna Usman, said the herdsmen were on a revenge mission to avenge the killing of one of their leaders in one of the villages sometime ago.
According to him, the herdsmen are not “crazy like that” to just kill people.

Spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, Aliyu Usman, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (ASP), who confirmed the killings, said some arrests had been made.

He added that further security measures had been taken to calm the growing tension in the area.
Two weeks ago, 11 people were killed by suspected herdsmen in the area, with several others wounded and houses set ablaze.