Sir Dominic Gambo Yahaya, the Agwatyap, the supreme head of the Atyap Chiefdom in Kaduna State’s Zangon Kataf Local Government Area, claims that attacks carried out by the Fulani living there resulted in the deaths of 245 residents and the total destruction of 623 homes.
He claimed that practically all of the villages in the Atyap Chiefdom have faced attacks by alleged Fulani militia since 2020.
The monarch reportedly revealed this during the Catholic Social Centre in Kaduna during the celebration of International Peace Day 2022, which was organized by the Liturgy and Social Justice, MCSL, and SCD in Kaduna, according to DAILY POST.
The monarch, who revealed everything that had occurred in the Chiefdom, claimed that the attacks had grown increasingly distressing and disturbing. He claimed that the alleged killers, who were known to have lived in the communities, frequently called their victims to inform them of their murderous plans before carrying them out on the defenseless and harmless farmers.
He said that the initial killings of individual farmers by suspected Fulani herdsmen in their midst in early 2019—which many believed to be premeditated—led to roughly 14 similar instances in the Chiefdom.
“This snowballed into a serious problem on the 16th of June 2020,” he claimed.
“Subsequently, massive attacks have taken place in villages where people have been killed and homes and other property have been set on fire by suspected Fulani herdsmen; some ignorant people have referred to these attacks as farmer-herder clashes, but this narrative has been especially painful because the attacks, which happen primarily at night, have left many communities desolate.”
In light of the fact that the attacks sometimes took place simultaneously, he bemoaned the fact that security agents were woefully unable to handle the situation in the villages, adding that things would have become worse if they hadn’t been present.
Yahaya pointed out that in order to stop attacks on communities, local community policing must be established right away to support the Nigeria Police Force’s and other security agencies’ efforts to maintain law and order.
In order to maintain peaceful coexistence, he advocated for the adoption of laws that would recognize the State’s vigilante services, the civilian taskforce, and the hunters’ group. He also suggested that these groups be unified as a single entity to strengthen and supplement the security network in the majority of the State.
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