ACF condemns the massacre of more than 50 pastoralists in Nasarawa and demands a swift investigation

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) criticized the drone strike that killed over 50 Fulani pastoralists in Nasarawa State on Sunday.

The group also urged the federal government to form an investigative team into the killing immediately and bring the perpetrators of the heinous act, whomever they are, to justice.

furucinovel previously reported that around 50 pastoralists traveled to Makurdi, Benue state, and paid a N29 million Naira fine to retrieve 1,250 impounded animals from the Benue Livestock Guards.
Over 50 of them, however, were slain while offloading their cows in Nasarawa State.

In a statement issued on Sunday in Kaduna, ACF Secretary General Murtala Aliyu said that because only the federal government has the authority to deploy drones, the circumstances surrounding the killing of pastoralists have left them reeling.

“Sources told the ACF that a drone strike occurred as the animals were being offloaded after the owners were forced to transport back their cattle on trucks from Makurdi,” according to the statement.

It said the incident occurred barely six months after a similar incident in which hundreds of livestock were killed when a Nigerian Air Force helicopter gunship from the Makurdi Base Operation carried out the strike, killing and injuring the animals as well as some herders in Awe, also in Nasarawa state.

It stated that the Federal Government manages Nigerian airspace through the Nigerian Airspace Management Authority (NAMA), and wondered why innocent souls were killed while the federal government remained silent, adding that in a serious country, the death of one person is enough to attract the attention and intervention of the government.

While commending the Nasarawa State Government for their intervention in providing medical attention and support to survivors and victims’ families, the statement expresses condolences to the families of the deceased and the Nasarawa State Government, while also calling for adequate compensation to be paid to the victims’ families.