As normalcy gradually returns to the troubled Southern Kaduna region, the locals, who are predominantly farmers are returning to their destroyed communities and going back to farm amidst the ruins. Abdulgafar Alabelewe who visited some of the communities reports that, the scars of the crises remain conspicuous, while the trauma is indelible in the minds of the locals, who live in palpable fear of future attacks.
ALTHOUGH tribal and sectarian killings in the southern part of Kaduna State date back to the Kafanchan crisis in 1983, the number of deaths recorded in the area since the 2011 post-election violence has been alarming. Since the end of the post-presidential election violence, several villages in Jema’a, Kaura and Zangon Kataf local government areas have been attacked by gunmen. Scores of people have been killed as villages were razed and properties worth hundreds of millions of naira were destroyed. In all this, a lot of accusing fingers are pointing to Fulani herdsmen.
The villages attacked include, Ninte, Godogodo, Pasakori, Gada Biyu, Tafan, Ungwan Mississi, Mailwan and most prominently Goska, a village in Kaninkon Chiefdom of Jema’a Local Government Area, which was stormed by gunmen on Christmas eve, leaving no fewer than 10 people dead, including the 22-year-old daughter of the former local government council chairman, Gideon Morik.
Surviving the peace
However, several measures put in place by government and other stakeholders to curtail the crises have largely yielded positive results, as many locals have now returned to their villages, though with memories of the previous attacks very fresh in their minds, especially those who lost loved ones and valuable property in the process
From the visited Godogodo to Pasakori, Mailwan to Tafan, Ungwan Mississi to Goska, the story is not different. The locals who have returned to their ancestral farming trade have expressed fear of future attack, asking government to consolidate on the peace already achieved and help them rebuild their villages.
Tafan, a community in Kagoro Chiefdom is already taken over by crops cultivated by the returned villagers. The scene is that of maize and other crops, sandwiching the community. But only a few houses are standing tall like the crops.
The locals are struggling to put up part of their burnt houses, while others travel daily from Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp to their farms. Their fear now is that, the ugly incident may repeat itself if security measures put in place are not sustained.
According to Francis Tagwai, an indigene of Sabon Gari Tafan, “We were just home on a fateful day without any form of provocation we started hearing gunshots all around. People started running helter-skelter and hiding inside the bush. From the bush around we were able to escape to the forest, some of us without clothes on, many without shoes.
“We were hiding in the forest with hope for rescue, because the sound of gunshots continued, until around midnight when they had finished looting our belongings, we saw flames from the direction of our village. Then, we knew we were in for a big trouble, because we realised that must be our houses on fire.
“We couldn’t do anything that night because the sound of gunshots continued; I mean the kind of gunshots that you cannot even think of going close to the village. We slept in the forest, I cannot even say we slept, but we passed the night in the forest amidst fear of Fulani attackers and dangerous animals in the bush.
“The following day, after the sound of gunshots disappeared around 6:00am, we now came back to see the extent of the damages. As you can see this house behind me, it was razed by the attackers. This house took me almost six years to build, but it was razed down in just one night.”
In an emotion suffused voice he continued, “As you can see, the house is very big with different apartment at the back, for me to repair this house now, I will need not less than another three to four million naira if not more considering the current economic situation.
“So, when we came back and discovered that our houses have been burnt down, and there was no place for us to stay, we had to vacate the village. People went to different places; some of us went to the IDPs camp in Kafanchan.
“Life in IDPs camp was very terrible for us as hitherto independent people. Sometimes, we don’t get food to eat in a day, sometimes we get one meal in a day and sometimes when we are very lucky, we get to eat breakfast and dinner. But in all, life was difficult for us outside our ancestral home. Sometimes, you don’t even have a mat to lie on.
“Now, as I speak with you I am not even back fully, I still stay in Kafanchan, where I have been able to secure a rented room. I come home to farm with the hope that things will get better. Because last year, over 100 bags of grains I harvested from my farm were burnt together with my house, just behind me here. I couldn’t even pick anything when the attackers visited the village. In fact, in such situation the only thing that is paramount is one’s life.
“For some people, they have been able to repair their houses and settled back, but I have not been that lucky. The local government brought roofing sheets for us and when it was shared I got only three pieces, not bundles! So, what can I do with that in this house?”
Luka Peter is another indigene of Sabon Gari Tafan, Kagoro Chiefdom.
In telling his own story he said, “That evening of October 12, 2016, we just arrived from farm and unexpected gunshots just rented the air. Initially, we thought it was a child’s play, so, we sent our children and wives out to safer places and we stayed back at home. Though, we could not sleep inside our houses, except in the bushes until the next day when the Fulani attackers came with full force. That was the attack that led to burning of our houses.
“That was when we became totally displaced, because even if you want to say, you are brave, there was no single house standing where you could sleep. So, everyone went to his relatives’ places. Those that went to IDP camp went.
“For me, I went to Kagoro with my family to stay with my relatives. Life was not easy there, but we have to thank those that received us and shouldered our responsibilities throughout the period. In fact, one of my children was sick within the period and I couldn’t even raise money to treat the child, but my relatives were of help throughout. You know how bad it can be for a family man not to be able to cater for his family members.
“Besides that, you may be looking at this place that, this is a village, but you cannot compare living in your own house with living elsewhere. Living in my house is one thousand times better for me that living outside. That is why I have decided that, since people are returning home, whether with or without security presence, living in my house is better for me than begging for food elsewhere.
“When I learnt that some of my people have started returning home, I decided to return in February and we have started farming again and from there, we are getting something to feed our family and taking some to market and using the money to repair our houses.
“So, now that we are back, we only need about two or three things. One is, let there be permanent security in place. Two, government should come to our aid to ensure that we are able to put our houses back in proper shape. Thirdly, we should live in peace with one-another.
“Thank God some of our Fulani neighbours have now realised that there is nothing like peace. We only hope and pray that, that will be sustained”, he said.
At Ungwan Mississi in Pasakori, the story is a bit different, only few locals have returned despite the presence of a police check-point right in at the village’s entrance. Many of them come to farm on their land every day, but go back to either Goska or IDPs camp in Kafanchan to sleep.
The village is still deserted while the ugly scenes of destructions are yet to disappear. The locals don’t only blame ‘Fulani militia’ for their misfortune, they alleged that men of the Nigerian Army aided the attackers and even participated in the killings of their kinsmen, including their blind old Village Head. Though, the army had one time denied the allegation saying, it was totally false.
Yusuf Ezekiel, who came to his farm from the IDPs camp in Kafanchan said, they saw hell during last year’s attack, but the painful aspect of their ordeal was that, the security agents who ought to defend them inflicted more pain on them.
According to him, “We were attacked on October 27, 2016. That very day, we were behind the village digging the grave to bury one of our grandmothers who died. We were there when soldiers came and asked all the youths in the village to gather, that they want to see us. When we gathered, they said we should go and bring all our weapons. And we told them we don’t have weapons. They asked for our youth leader who was not at home that day, while somebody was asked to go and look for him, all of a sudden, one soldier just went to the back of this house and fired a shot. Immediately he fired that shot, sound of gunshots answered from everywhere. We didn’t know that Fulani people had already surrounded our village.
“Soldiers were the ones that killed our Village Head and my friend’s father just because my friend’s father identified himself as an old soldier. Then, Fulani people invaded the village, then all of us ran into hiding.
“While, I was hiding, I saw how Fulani people shot my younger brother’s wife. They killed other people because about eight people were killed that day. They didn’t spend more than 30 minutes they ran back to the bush. Because I was watching from hiding and I saw them when they were leaving, I was the first person to come back to the village to see the destruction. They killed our people that day.
“What actually led to the problem is that, on October 13, some Fulani people went and shot two policemen on checkpoint along Kagoro Road. So, the police went after them shooting, so they probably thought the bullets were coming from our own village. That is probably why they came to attack us. In fact, the first time they came, we quickly alerted the police from Gidan Waya and police repelled their attack on us, before they now came the day soldiers came to our village.
“Soldiers worked with the Fulani people to attack us. In fact, my younger brother’s wife that I said Fulani shot didn’t die immediately. She struggled and crawled to meet the soldiers for help, but they ignored her call for help, then she lost too much of blood and died. If the soldiers had helped her, she possibly wouldn’t have died,” he explained.
Time to rebuild
He, however, called on the government to assist in rebuilding their village saying that, “even now, I was just preparing to go back to the IDPs camp in Kafanchan when you arrived, we cannot come back now when all our buildings have been levelled to the ground. We are only coming around because of our farms around. So, we need government to come and rebuild our village if the government is really serious about restoring people back to their homes.”
Audu Maikasa, a retired soldier is one of the victims of the Southern Kaduna crisis in Godogodo Chiefdom. Though, he escaped death by the whiskers his house was not spared among others burnt down in the attack.
He said, “I was in my farm at Ninte sometime in October last year, then, news got to us that some Fulani people were harvesting our yams from the farms and taking them to Abuja to sell. So, we got in touch with the police and went to the farm to look for them. When we got to the farm, we didn’t meet them, so we decided to harvest the yams, about ten farmers and we brought it back home.
“I gathered all the tubers of yam right in front of my house here, you can see that even this tree is just recovering, the flame from the fire affected it too. So, I was just settling down after gathering my yams here then we started hearing gunshots. I ran inside and told my wife that Fulani people have come. I asked her and the children to get out and run for safety, I told them, I will wait in the house to protect our property. So, they ran to the other side of the town.
“When the Fulani attackers came closer, we discovered that we could not withstand the kind of guns they were carrying, so we also ran to the other side of the town. On getting there, we met another set of armed Fulani men, we were about to run again, then those ones told us that, they don’t have problem with that side of the village. So, they also crossed the road and joined forces with those that attacked this axis of the town.
“They looted our property and set houses on fire. In cases where doors were locked, they broke into people’s houses, looted our valuable property like generators, motorcycles, clothes, food stuff and others. Then, they will now set the house on fire. They came with one substance, it is a powder, once they spray it on a building and they set it on fire, it will bring the whole building down. As you can see, I had to raise this building from the beginning again. It was levelled to the ground.
“We couldn’t pick anything out of this house. Myself, my wife and my children’s wives, we couldn’t even pick a mat out of the house. In fact, we couldn’t come close. We were hearing gunshots, as if they were beating drums. I am an old soldier, the kind of gunshots sounds I heard that day, I was just wondering where the got those kind of guns from. The gunshots didn’t cease until around 5am.
“I and my family had to relocate to a neighbouring community down there after the incident where we were living and every morning, we will come here, because my wife cooks food and sell to people down there. I bring her on machine and we go back in the evening.
“Now, we are back and we are back to our farms, but we go to farm with fear. I have only cultivated one of my farmlands because the others are a bit far and I can’t risk going to farm there, because we don’t know what will happen next.
“My call to the government in this kind of uncertainty that we are in, is that government should be more pro-active. Our experiences around here are that, there is no quick response to contain crisis. Government usually delays until things have been destroyed before sending down security agents. Coming to the scene of attacks after the mayhem had been unleashed is as useless as not even coming at all”, Maikasa said.
Giving similar account is Shagari Akau Godogodo, who happens to be the youth leader of Godogodo town. He said all is not well, as their Fulani neighbours still destroy their crops in the farm.
He said, “We are back to our homes but our people are scared of going to their farms. Those that go to farms are having their crops destroyed by cattle. This shows to us that, things are not yet back to normal.
“When the Fulani people come to the town here, we chat and discuss freely without any sign of animosity, but back in the farm, they allow us come back home in the evening and they release their cattle to feed on our farms. This development is very disturbing but we are still believing that God will take control of everything.
“We don’t know what the Fulani people are thinking by doing this. But, I can say that, despite the several peace meetings between the indigenes and the Fulani, they have something negative in mind, otherwise why would they allow their cattle destroy our crops at this kind of period, despite what has happened in the past?
“Red Cross came recently and gave us fertilizers, people applied them on their crops and cattle are now destroying the crops. You see that is a big loss for the farmers and even the organisation that gave them fertilizers.
“If the way we gist and play together in the town is the same way the Fulani prevent their cattle from eating our crops in the farm, then we will say all is well.
Government should find a way of preventing the Fulani from taking their cattle into people’s farms, because the bottom line is that, farm encroachment has always being the genesis of clashes between the farmers and herdsmen. The Fulani leaders should be asked to warn their followers, especially youths to desist from encroaching farm lands.
“Presently, the issue of farmer being attacked, assaulted or harassed has stopped in Godogodo, except that, they allow their cattle destroy our crops,” he said.
Jerry Oseni is the President of the youth wing of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Gidan Waya area. Oseni’s story is a bit different. He lost two of his brothers to the Mailwan attack. But sadly, their bodies were not found until weeks after, when they had completely decomposed.
He said, he didn’t suspect his brothers were caught up in the Malwan attack, until about 48 hours after when he couldn’t find them. Then he couldn’t get help in his search mission for them, not even from the security agents.
According to him, “the incident happened when the Fulani were trying to push to Mailwan, that is when they were being killed. That very day, exactly on November 20, 2016, the Fulani tried to push to the village but they could not succeed, it was in the process of pushing the Fulani back that my brothers were killed.
“Apart from my own brothers, one other boy was killed in the process of defending the attack on Mailwan, making it three, the number of Gidan Waya youths that were killed in the process. That is why it pains me when I hear people say nothing happened at Gidan Waya. Not less than 10 Gidan Waya people were killed, either in the process of defending neighbouring villages or on their farms. That is aside our farm produce that were destroyed. We could not harvest our crops. People were killed. In fact, the most recent of them all was that of our friend, Solomon Musa was killed in his farm on Easter day, while the rest of us gathered at the Roman Catholic Church field, celebrating Easter.
“As for my brothers, when I didn’t see them within 24 hours after the Mailwan attack, I was worried. Meanwhile, that day, as the youth leader of the Christian faith, we were going round ensuring that our youths, especially those that are drunkards don’t go out to look for trouble in other communities.
So, when I settled down, 24 hours passed, 48 hours passed, I could not see my own brothers, then I became worried that, could it be that, they have been killed? But nobody could help me search for them that day. So, I went to the police and the policeman on duty asked me, why did Gidan Waya central youths go into another district to go and defend them? So, I also asked him, what also made Fulani people to leave their own settlements and come into our communities to attack our people? And he couldn’t answer. I went to the police and soldiers more than four times a day and when I talked to them with annoyance, they threatened to arrest me.
“So, when nobody gave me attention, I went into the bush alone. I saw other corpses there, but I couldn’t find my brothers’ bodies. I came back to the town and informed the people of where and where I saw corpses. So, they went and those ones were carried back home and buried. We later discovered that my brothers’ bodies were hidden in the grass, because the grasses were very tall then. So, we later saw remnants of their bones weeks later”, he narrated.
Oseni is however consoled by his belief that his brothers died as heroes, in the defence of their communities and their people.
He, however, called on the government to consolidate on the peace already achieved and reopen all the closed tertiary institutions in Southern Kaduna, especially the State College of Education, Gidan Waya and the Kafanchan campus of the Kaduna State University, believing that will finally restore people’s faith that peace is permanently back to Southern Kaduna.
