The Nation Newspaper

Tag: herdsmen

  • Herdsmen kill soldier, farmer in Benue

    Suspected Fulani herdsmen have reportedly killed a soldier and farmer in Guma and Logo Local Government Areas of Benue State.

    The farmer, Aondoaver Muemumu, was shot on Ayilamo-Anyiin road in Logo.

    A community leader, Chief Job Tiza, said the victim was returning to Anyiin from Ayilamo when he was ambushed.

    His body was deposited at Anyiin Mortuary.

    The soldier was reportedly killed in Tse-Ikyo, Guma council.

    An eyewitness, Kumachia Adzuu, said the herdsmen ambushed soldiers on patrol and killed one of them.

    Adzuu said the attack happened between 8 and 9pm. The soldier’s body was recovered yesterday at the Kwatan-Sule crossing point in River Benue.

    Police spokesman Moses Yamu could not be reached for comments.

  • ‘Herdsmen’ rape, kill widow

    Suspected herdsmen have raped and killed a widow at her farm in Nteje, Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State.

    A community source, who pleaded for anonymity, said the body was discovered on Saturday.

    But the traditional ruler, Igwe Rowland Odegbo, said the deceased was not from his community.

    According to him, the deceased was taken round the community and no one could identify her.

    He added that the incident occurred in a land belonging to their neighbours, Umueri.

    He said: “The incident happened in a land belonging to our neighbours, Umueri; that was where she was found, so we suspect that she may be from Umueri or even Aguleri.

    “The matter has already been lodged at Otuocha police division in Anambra East council.”

    But another source insisted that the woman was from Nteje and completed the funeral rites of her husband in February.

    Nobody could, however, give her name.

    Police spokesman Princess Nkeiruka Nwode denied the incident had anything to do with herdsmen.

    She said: “I don’t know if the woman was murdered by Fulani herdsmen. There is nothing to show that Fulani herdsmen were involved in her death.

    “That matter is a sensitive issue and I don’t want you to report what would breach peace.”

    She said one person was arrested in connection with the matter, adding that investigation is on.

    Another source said the deceased might have been a victim of the crisis between the neighbouring communities Umueri and Aguleri, which started last week.

  • Herdsmen abduct, kill pastor in Edo

    Suspected herdsmen have killed a Pastor of the Church of God Mission in Benin City, pastor Pius Eromosele.

    Eromosele was killed at his farm at Odighi in Ovia North East local government area after they allegedly demanded a ransom of N4m.

    Another killed farmer, whose identity could not be ascertained, was buried inside the bush because he was already decomposed.

    The unidentified farmer was found by a search party comprising of hunters and local vigilante who went into the bush to look for Pastor Eromosele.

    Eldest son of late Eromosele, Dr. Richard Eromosele, said his father was abducted on Thursday March 29 and found already decomposing in the bush on April 3rd.

    Dr. Richard said he almost passed out when he saw the way his father was brutally murdered.

    Richard told newsmen that the killers cut through his father’s skull after they shot him at close range.

    He stated that he reported the incident to the police which referred him to the anti-kidnapping unit but nothing was done to rescue his father.

    Richard said two of his father’s workers, Kingsley and Akpan, who managed to escape from the herdsmen, narrated what happened before his father was killed.

    He said: “Last Thursday, my mother called that he had been calling my father and that he was not picking.

    “She later called that my father later picked and told her that he has been kidnapped by herdsmen at his farm.

    “The herdsmen did not use their phones. They were using my father’s phone and a phone of one of his workers.

    “They demanded for N4m but we begged them that it was a holiday and could not raise such money.

    “I went to the police and they told me that I should call them whenever the herdsmen called for ransom payment. I did that but there was no response from the police.

    “The two workers that escaped told us that the herdsmen told my father that he was one of those killing their cows.

    “It was on Tuesday after the police failed to find my father that I begged hunters and vigilante to help me.

    “It was during the search that we found my father. His skull was cut out with a cutlass while his hands were also cut.

    “We want security agencies to protect farmers in Odighi. My father has farmed in that place for many years.

    “How could I go into farming when my father was killed like a pig?”

    Edo Police Commissioner, Babatunde Kokumo, could not be reached for comment.

  • Herdsmen kill two farmers, injure three

    Two persons have been reportedly killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Agasha, Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.

    Three persons were injured and are receiving treatment in hospital.

    According to the president of Tiv Barenda Association (TBA), Chief Aondona Adzuu, the herdsmen stormed the victim’s home, popularly called Asema, about 2 am.

    He said: “They surrounded his house on Tilley Gyado Farm road and shot him. They also rustled 100 cows.

    “On their way to escape they shot three persons, who are receiving treatment in hospital.”

    Police spokesperson Moses Yamu said he was yet to get the information from the Guma Divisional Police Office.

    Four members of a family were yesterday massacred in Bikka, Takum Local Government Area Taraba State, by rampaging herdsmen.

    Taku is the home of Governor Darius Ishaku and former Defence Minister Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd).

    The attack comes 11 days after Danjuma indicted the armed forces of “colluding” with the killers and asking Nigerians to arm themselves and balance the terror.

    Pictures of the dead went viral on social media.

    Police Commissioner David Akinremi, who confirmed the attack, said the culprits struck about 1am.

    Akinremi, who described the killers as “unknown gunmen”, said: “There is no confirmation as to who the killers are, and what their motive is.”

    Chairman of Takum Shiban Tikare, who also confirmed the attack, said: “The attackers invaded the village at night and slaughtered four members of a family. We heard gunshots about 1am on Takum-Ussa road. While we were trying to mobilise policemen, we heard sporadic gunshots at Mbikka Central, a community on the outskirt of the town.

    “When we got there, four people had been slaughtered like chickens – a man, his wife and two children.

    “A baby mysteriously survived. The attackers, whom we suspect to be Fulani herdsmen, also attacked Basam and burnt the entire village.”

    Shiban lamented that the killings were going on despite the extension of Exercise Ayem Akpatuma (Cat Race).

    According to him, instead of combing the villages to flush out the attackers, the soldiers were busy brutalising his people.

    He added that the people were disappointed with the exercise as it is not yielding the desired results.

    Police spokesman David Misal said the casualty figure was still not clear “but four bodies were recovered.”

    Misal added that the Divisional Police Officer in Takum and troops have been deployed in the area.

  • Herdsmen kill a couple, two kids in Taraba

    Four members of a family were Wednesday massacred in Taraba state by the rampaging herdsmen.

    A 9-month old toddler, however, survived the attack, eye-witnesses told The Nation.

    Police Commissioner, David Akinremi, who confirmed the attack and killings, said, the incident, took place in Bikka village of Takum local government area, the home of Governor Darius Ishaku and former Defence Minister Theophilus Danjuma.

    The killing comes 11 days after Danjuma indicted the armed forces of “colluding” with the killers, asking Nigerians to arm themselves and balance the terror, otherwise they will all die one by one.

    The pictures of those murdered -a Kuteb-Jukun man and his wife with two of their kids, which went viral on the social media, looked gory, with multiple machete cuts.

    The Taraba police commissioner described the killers as “unknown gunmen.”

    “There is no confirmation yet, as to who they (the killers) are, and their motive.

    “But no item seen to be stolen,” he told The Nation, adding that the killers struck at 1:00am.

    Hon. Shiban Tikare, the Chairman of Takum local government council, also confirmed the killing of the four members of a family in a night attack.

    Shiban disclosed that a nine-month old baby, however, “mysterious” survived the attack.

    “The attackers invaded the village at night and slaughtered four members of a family who were deep asleep.

    “We heard gunshots around 1:00am along Takum -Ussa road. While we were making efforts to mobilise policemen to the area, we heard sporadic gunshots at Mbikka Central, a community just at the outskirt of the town.

    “By the time we got there, four people were slaughtered like chickens – a man, his wife and two children.

    “A baby mysteriously survived the attack. The attackers whom we suspect to be Fulani herdsmen also attacked Basam, a village close to Rtd. Gen. Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma’s farmhouse, setting the entire village ablaze,” he said.

    Shiban lamented that the killings were going on in the area, in spite of the extension of Exercise Ayem A Kpatuma (Cat Race) by the federal government.

    According to him, instead of combing the villages to flush out the attackers, the army was busy brutalising his people in the town, adding that his people were disappointed with the exercise whom he said was not yielding the desired results.

    Police spokesman, David Misal, an ASP, said the casualty figure was still not clear, “but four bodies were recovered.”

    Misal said the Divisional Police Officer in Takum and some troops were drafted to the area.

    Read Also: Ohanaeze youths hail Danjuma, vow to deal with armed herdsmen

  • Don’t withdraw military Troops – Niger communities appeals to FG

    Eighty Communities across five local government areas in Niger state have pleaded with the federal government not to withdraw troops deployed to the communities to put an end to kidnapping and cattle rustling.

    The communities which are cut across  Shiroro, Munya, Paikoro, Gurara, Raffin and Chachanga said the withdrawal of the military troops may bring renewed onslaught to their communities calling on the military to establish a barracks for the soldiers.

    The Military is being proposed to be deployed to Zamfara State to stem the activities of arm bandits.

    It would be recalled that the military had deployed the troops to the affected communities cut across the five local government areas on January 27, 2018 following rising cases of kidnapping and other criminal activities.

    Speaking to newsmen in Minna, one of the community leaders, Alhaji Malam Imam Abdulaziz Usman of  Zagzagga Community threatened that they will relocate from the communities if the military troops are removed.

    “We were planning to relocate from our communities when the military arrived; and since they came, we have enjoyed peace and the hoodlums have been chased away. But, as it is now we are already planning to leave again because we heard the military is leaving on Thursday.

    “Just four days ago, some of our youths who are mining, saw eight trucks of these herdsmen entering from Zamfara state and they are presently in the bush.

    “The herdsmen will attack us as a form of revenge on how the military dealt with them. We appreciate the presence of the military, we want to appeal that the planned withdrawal of soldiers should be put on hold and instead we want permanent security presence in the affected local government areas.”

    Abdulaziz said that his community has lost a lot of people before the military troops came on board and they are not ready to lose anybody again.

    The Senator representing Niger East Senatorial District, Senator David Umaru also added his voice to the appeal urging the government and the military authority not to be in haste to withdraw troops from the areas, especially now that there is an on-going military activity in neighbouring Zamfara state.

    He noted that government should provide the much need logistics to ease the operation of the troops on ground in the area adding that the presence of the military in communities saved a lot of lives.

    “We are raising the alarm now so that the government will be proactive. Because if the military leaves there will be attacks on our communities.”

    In a related development, the Niger state Governor,  Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has called on the people not to panic.

    According to his Special Adviser on security matters Col. M.K Maikudi, there is need for the people to remain calm as government have not heard of any invasion of herdsmen adding that all security apparatus in the state are ready in the event of any  security challenge.

     

     

  • Herdsmen menace: Gambari seeks revival of 1965 grazing law

    Nigeria’s former Under-Secretary at the United Nations, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari has pushed for the revival of the 1965 Grazing Reserve Law.

    This, according to him, would solve the constant herdsmen/ farmers clashes in the country.

    He said the law can be revived based on Section 315 of the 1999 constitution in the 19 northern states.

    Gambari said this in Malete, Moro local government area of Kwara State at a symposium organised by the Kwara State University’s College of Agriculture.

    The symposium is entitled: “Pastoralists and crop farmers’ crisis: A discourse on proactive measures to prevent conflict in Nigeria.”

    The former Nigerian UN ambassador noted that out of the estimated 40 million hectares of grazing land in the country only three million hectares are specifically tagged as grazing reserves.

    “The Nigerian livestock industry is largely dependent on natural vegetation. Although, there are vast hectares of natural vegetation in the country they are not maximally utilised due to poor planning and conflicting government policies,” he added.

    Gambari also called for harmonisation of relevant laws and policies that govern grazing reserves and a national review and protection of traditional stock routes.

    He added “regional instruments governing pastoralism should be protected and above all domesticated. In addition to the laws, consultative process between farming and pastoral communities is required to review the effect of statutes and regulations on routine practices of animal husbandry”.

    The diplomat, who lamented that the idea to encourage nomads to settle as first made in 1942 but was never implemented, recommended that “a clear policy of land grant to pastoralists should be developed and implemented by the state governments.”

    Also, an Ilorin based legal practitioner, Mallam Yusuf Ali (SAN) asked Nigerians to stop classifying the killer herdsmen as Fulani.

    He said unless Nigerians stop classifying the killer herdsmen Fulani, the herdsmen/farmers classes and the attendant wanton destruction of lives and property will continue unabated.

    In his paper, titled, constitutional provisions guiding the use of land, water, forest resources by pastoralists and crop farmers in Nigeria, Mallam Yusuf Ali SAN, recommended ranching as one of the possible models in areas with lower population density in the North East (Sambisa game reserve in Bornu state) and North West (Gidan Jaja) grazing reserve in Zamfara state) amongst others.

    Said he: “It’s my humble view that pastoralism is not sustainable in Nigeria over the long term due to high population growth rate, expansion of farming and loss of pasture and cattle routes. At the same time, pastoralism cannot be prohibited in the short term as there are strong cultural and political economy reasons for its existence.

    “It is important therefore to develop both legal and policy framework for a transitional period during which new systems would be put in place.”

    Grazing cattle has become problematic in the country. Herder-farmer clashes have claimed thousands of people, maimed perhaps even more and left many children without parents.

    Several suggestions have been offered to end the hostilities, including loving one another and being one’s brother’s keeper. Lately, having cattle colonies across the country has equally been touted as another answer to the bloodshed, but several states have retorted that they do not have any land to give up for that purpose. Some states have banned open grazing, preferring ranching. The bloodshed has yet to abate.

  • Herdsmen take over Benue community

    Communities in Tombo ward, Logo Local Government Area of Benue State, have been deserted after Fulani herdsmen invaded the area.

    The herdsmen allegedly came with their cattle and grazed them on the farms.

    A community leader, Chief Job Tiza, said the cattle destroyed crops.

    Many farmers have deserted their homes and are taking refuge in Ayilamo, he added.

    Tiza said the herdsmen displayed their weapons menacingly in the presence of soldiers on Operation Cat Race.

    He lamented that the rainy season is approaching, yet farmers cannot access their land to prepare for farming.

    Police spokesman Moses Yamu said he was yet to get a report on the invasion.

    Governor Samuel Ortom has urged communities to employ dialogue in resolving disputes even when the courts had adjudicated over such matters.

    He spoke yesterday during a security meeting with stakeholders at the palace of Ter Kwande in Adikpo, Kwande Local Government Area.

    The governor said it was unthinkable for communities to take up arms against one another, especially now that the state is battling external aggression.

    He regretted that instead of reflecting on the persecution, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, brothers destroyed each other’s property in Agbaikyan ward.

    Ortom urged the monarchs to be proactive in reporting security challenges in their domains to council chairmen, saying his administration would not tolerate lawlessness.

    He advised the kindred head, who won a land case which led to a communal clash, to accept the monarch’s intervention for an amicable resolution.

    The Tor Kwande, Chief Ambrose Iyortyer and Ter Kwande, Chief Hilary Ikima, condemned their subject’s actions, saying it was unfortunate such was happening when the council was under siege.

  • Danjuma’s kinsmen relive how troops aided herdsmen

    •Kinsmen protest arrests after ex-minister’s self- defence call

    •Ogbebor seeks probe of claims 

    •We’re neutral, says Army

    Two Taraba State local government chairmen yesterday relived how troops aided killer-herdsmen — an allegation made by former Defence Minister Gen. Theophilus Danjuma.

    There are troops in the state under “Operation Cat Race”, the military exercise being conducted to end the killings in the Middle Belt.

    The army has debunked Gen. Danjuma’s allegation, saying it remains neutral in the farmers-herdsmen’s clashes in which many have died.

    Gen. Danjuma’s advice to Nigerians to defend themselves has sparked a huge row.

    The Jukun Development Association of Nigeria (JDAN), a socio-cultural organisation of Jukun in Taraba State, Gen. Danjuma’s kinsmen, backed his stand yesterday.

    Another senior citizen, Itsekiri High Chief Rita Lori Ogbebor urged the government to protect Nigerians.

    JDAN and Chief Ogbebor spoke at news conferences in Lagos.

    The council chairmen, who spoke with reporters described Gen Damjuma’s “intervention” as “a way of making the military turn a new leaf”.

    The Chairman of Takum Local Government, Shiban Tikari, said the army began “Operation Cat Race” on February 15 without notifying him and others. He reported to Governor Darius Ishaku before the army served the governor a notification letter on March 1.

    “The commencement of the Cat Race has caused resumed attacks and killings by Fulani herdsmen. Many more are now displaced,” Tikari said.

    Chairman of Ussa Council Rimamsikwe Karma, told reporters that the soldiers were harassing his people, “collecting kitchen knives and cutlasses from them while herdsmen were walking freely with AK-47 riffles, burning homes and killing people without provocation.

    “The herdsmen come with machine guns. They are killers; they are not the herdsmen we know -who had lived with us over the years.”

    A widow, Mrs Jumai Andeyaba, told reporters that she had left home last Tuesday for a funeral, soldiers broke into her home, harassed her daughters and stole her N150, 000.

    Lt.-Col. Ibrahim Babatunde Gambari, the Commanding Officer of Takum Barracks, said he had no authority to react to the allegations.

    It was learnt that Ishaku on August 11, 2017 wrote to the National Security Adviser (NSA), requesting that the Commanding Officer of the 93

    Battalion, Takum, Lt.-Col. Gambari, be moved from Taraba, for his “disappointing conduct, in spite of huge security challenges in the state.”

    The letter, citing a case of collusion, said some herdsmen who attacked communities in Takum and Ussa local government areas on May 6, last year, were later overpowered by security agents and their 224 cows seized and given to Gambari as a ploy for him to track down the culprits.

    But Col. Gambari released the cows to the culprits without the knowledge of the governor.

    It was gathered that the National Security Adviser, in his reply, signed by Brig.-Gen. AT Famadewa, on August 29, 2017, requested the Chief of Army Staff to “investigate the allegations against the Commanding Officer by the governor.”

    Residents of Wukari alleged that a chopper had dropped arms in the pastoral village of Jubu on Saturday  night,  January 20.

    “Our governor (Ishaku) had cried out that he received threats that the state would be attacked in 10 days.

    “10 hours after the governor’s alarm, the killer-herdsmen struck and killed four people, among them a couple. Yet, the killers were not found, and the whole thing was downplayed,” Mr. Noah, a resident, said.

    On January 26, 2016 Ishaku wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari, saying: “It is very clear that these attacks can no longer be viewed as inter-ethnic crises.

    “It can’t be viewed as communal clashes. There is definitely more to it.”

    Speaking for the Jukun organisation, Chief Bako Benjamin said majority of Nigerians were unaware of the calamity and that had befallen the Jukun in the last four years.

    He accused the media of not paying enough attention to “the silent ethnic cleansing and genocide ongoing in southern and central Taraba”.

    He said rather than lampooning Gen. Danjuma for his candid view, which he said was coming after a thorough analysis of the situation, the military should have launched an investigation into the weighty allegation and fished out the culpable officers and men.

    The organisation also demanded a Commission of Inquiry to look into several cases of atrocities, human rights violations and banditry committed by some security forces in Jukunland against innocent people.

    The people, Benjamin said, are being killed by herdsmen and their homes and farmlands burnt.

    He said Gen. Danjuma’s statement is a reflection of what goes on in Taraba and elsewhere around the Middle Belt, where several villages and towns have been sacked and indigenes chased away by Fulani herdsmen, who invaded their communities, allegedly with the military’s backing.

    Benjamin said: “Rather than carpet our revered elder statesman, the Jukun people have been anxiously waiting for the time when Fulani herdsmen who have killed entire villagers in our land will be arrested and paraded. We are peace-loving people. But our people are being arrested in our land and being killed by those who otherwise came for pasture for their cattle.”

    He said parading Jukun youths on Sunday, barely 24 hours after Gen. Danjuma’s criticism of their handling of their roles for taking pictures of the ongoing violence in their land, was “simply exposing the ugly underbelly of the Nigerian military and their complicit in the whole tragic saga unfolding in Taraba State”.

    ”We are anxiously waiting for when Fulani herdsmen that have killed and wiped off entire villages in our land would be paraded. We have not travelled to anybody’s land to look for trouble, but our people are being arrested in our land for snapping pictures.

    “What Jukuns expected is for the Nigerian military and the Federal Government to launch an investigation into the weighty allegations that General Danjuma raised and not to be beating about the bush in denials without substance.”

    He alleged that there were widespread reports of glaring bias and nepotism by the Nigerian military’s Operation Ayem Kpatuma, particularly in Takum and Ussa local government areas, since they arrived.

    “For example, there was no single presence of Fulani herdsmen in the two local government areas for over a year now since their last mass killings of our people, which saw them abandoning the area and fleeing until the soldiers arrived on the same day with them in the name of Operation Ayem Kpatuma.

    “No sooner had they arrived in the peaceful communities that burning of houses and killings resumed. As if that’s not enough, the soldiers went about unleashing a campaign of terror and intimidation against Jukun people, breaking into homes and confiscating hunting dane guns, cutlasses, bows and arrows, and left the Fulani herdsmen fully armed with their weapons to continue their campaign of terror in the countryside.

    Benjamin alleged that close to 50 villages in southern and central Taraba exist only in name as Fulani herdsmen have wiped out the indigenous population and are commandeering the villages.

    Chief Ogbebor said Gen. Danjuma ought to be taken seriously.

    She said killing in various parts of the country had become unbearable.

    Her words: “Gen. Danjuma is one of our topmost military officers since independence. He has always been in the system. He is so entrenched in the armed forces that he played significant roles at every point he served the country.

    “To say that Danjuma should not be taken seriously tantamount to saying what the former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida, or former President Olusegun Obasanjo said should not be taken seriously.”

    She said there were too many arms and ammunition in circulation, stressing that the government must redress the situation to make life better for the people.

    “I am not a politician, but if we are not allowed to have a level playing ground through peaceful co-existence, violence will definitely set in. There is so much money and guns out there. We know that what General Danjuma said could happen. We don’t want Nigeria to become Somalia.

    “I call on all mothers of this nation, not only to pray, but come out and tell leaders to drop their greed and join in the fight against corruption.

    “Like other Nigerians, I am a victim of corruption because we can see it fighting back. This puts President Muhammadu Buhari at crossroads in the fight against corruption and the country is at a dilemma.”

  • Guns given to herdsmen by politicians, says Methodist Prelate

    Methodist Church of Nigeria Prelate Dr Samuel Kalu-Uche said yesterday that politicians were behind herdsmen killings.

    He said: “I understand that the guns are issued to them by politicians.’’

    Dr. Kalu-Uchehe urged President Muhammadu Buhari to fish out those arming the herdsmen and make them to face the law.

    He advised politicians who think they could rig themselves into elected positions to know that Nigerians were now wiser.

    The prelate gave the advice at a news conference after what he called an “Apostolic Tour’’ of the Church’s Arch Dioceses in the FCT, as well as Minna and Lokoja.

    “Our leaders should learn from the fall of Sadam Hussein, Gadaffi , Idi Amin and Robbert Mugabe.

    “Our politicians are not learning. They should not think they are powerful. Power belongs to God. If they think they are powerful, God has a way of dealing with them,’’ he said.

    He decried a situation where some elected politicians earn as much as N13.5 million as monthly allowance, while the masses were suffering.

    Kanu-Uche noted that security remained a challenge, especially the recurring herdsmen/farmers clashes in a number of states.

    “The people you call herdsmen now were not the ones we knew when we were younger in the 60s.

    “Herdsmen live in our villages, they used their staff and control thousands of cattle and we relate well with them, there was no shooting, but now they use gun.

    Urging Nigerians to embrace one and another and live in peace irrespective of religious and political leanings.

    “God did not make a mistake in bringing us together.

    “We want a united country, where there is peace, harmony, justice, equity and rule of law.

    “We do not want a religious country. We should co-habit and co-exist in love.’’

    The prelate commended President Muhammadu Buhari for not abandoning projects initiated by the past administration.