Lafia, Nasarawa state – A pregnant woman and five other people have been feared killed in a deadly clash between farmers and herders in the Nasarawa local government area (LGA) of Nasarawa state.
As reported by The Punch, several others sustained injuries, while houses, motorcycles, and a police patrol vehicle were set ablaze.
Nansel Ranham, the spokesperson of the police in the prominent northcentral state, confirmed the incident in a statement issued on Tuesday, March 11.
Ranham disclosed that security personnel in Nasarawa state had been deployed to the area to restore order and that six bodies had so far been recovered.
The statement read:
“The six corpses recovered and identified are Simeon Madaki, Ayawu Senior, Sunday Wa’azu, Vincent Sunday, Taimako Senior, and Filibus Jatau Mai’anguwa.
“Some houses, shops, motorcycles, and a car were also vandalised during the attack.”
Furthermore, the police representative stated that three injured victims were rescued and taken to the hospital for treatment.
The statement said:
“To ensure law and order, the area has been reinforced with personnel from the Mobile Police of 69 PMF Toto, alongside other police operatives and the military, who are currently patrolling the vicinity.
“However, in the course of the intervention, the mob vandalised a police patrol vehicle and later set fire to a nearby Ruga settlement where the suspect, Sani, resided. This led to the unfortunate death of one Azumi Allah Gaba and her unborn child.”
Also, the police disclosed that two suspects had been arrested in connection with the violence and that normalcy had been restored to the affected community.
Meanwhile, a resident, Yakubu Joshua, claimed the death toll was higher than officially reported—alleging that more than 20 people had been killed and many others remained missing.
Herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria
reports that across Nigeria, there are a series of disputes over arable land between predominantly Muslim Fulani herders and predominantly Christian non-Fulani farmers. The conflicts have been especially prominent in the middle-belt (north-central) since the return of democracy in 1999. More recently, they have deteriorated into attacks on farmers by Fulani herdsmen.
Attacks have also taken place in Northwestern Nigeria against farmers who are mainly Hausa, who are almost entirely Muslim. Many Fulani communities, who are usually farmers, have also been attacked and raided by Fulani bandits and other militias. Despite the conflict fundamentally being a land-use conflict between farmers and herders across Nigeria’s middle-belt, it has taken on dangerous religious and ethnic dimensions mostly because most of the farmers are Christians of various ethnicities while most of the herders are Muslim Fulani who make up about 90% of the country’s pastoralists. Thousands of people have died since the attacks began.
Drunk policeman kills Niger resident
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that tragedy struck in Niger state as a police officer, allegedly embarked on a shooting spree while drunk, and killed a resident.
Commissioner of Police, Shuwala Danmamman, ordered the divisional police officer of Maitumbi, to identify and arrest the officer responsible for the tragic incident.
