The Wednesday and Thursday separate attacks in Nasarawa and Zamfara states claimed no fewer than 36 lives.
Report has it that 20 herdsmen were allegedly killed b soilders in Keana local government area os Nasarawa state during a funeral rite while 16 persons were equally killed by an unknown armed bandits in Zamfara state
The Tiv people who have suffer many lost both in human and materials with hundreds displaced in the recent time have vowed that the peace agreement signed recently can not stand as the attack on the herdsmen in Nasarawa state is considered to be a threat to the peace deal between the Fulani herdsmen and Tiv farmers in Benue state by the police authority.
Ardo Sodangi Saudi, in whose house the Fulani herdsmen were all killed said more than 50 herdsmen were killed by the soldiers that unleashed terrible attacks on them, but many other souces confirmed yesterday that at least 20 herdsmen were killed in the alleged attacks by the soldiers.
Meanwhile, only 9 dead bodies of the slain Fulani herdsmen were seen at the cemetery of the Dalhatu Arab Specialist Hospital in Lafia, but Ardo Saudi alleged that the soldiers had denied relations access to the affected areas to enable them retrieve the remaining bodies of their kinsmen he claimed were killed by the soldiers.
The Military troops deployed to the affected states in the wake of the intervention by the federal government in the North-central zone, over the incessant crises involving Fulani herdsmen and Tiv farmers, Wednesday morning, stormed Fulani settlements in Keana local government area, shooting and killing indiscriminately.
Musa Adamu, a resident of the area, told our correspondent that soldiers conveyed in six Hilux vans and two armoured tanks, arrived Keana at about 10.30pm Tuesday but that early Wednesday, the army stormed a Fulani settlement located along Giza road, Gidan Ardo Sodangi, where they opened fire on sympathizers that gathered to observe the Islamic funeral rite of a relation who had died of natural causes.
Eyewitnesses said the soldiers who carried out the operation in commando style, also raided the main Keana town, storming the Local Government Secretariat road, where they allegedly killed two more herdsmen behind the Government Girls College, Keana.
Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) also raised an alarm over an alleged threat by the soldiers to kill every herdsman residing in either Benue or Nasarawa state. Haruna Garus Gololo, Secretary, MACBAN, Benue state, who also address newsmen at the DASH Mortuary, Lafia, expressed fears that with the “cold blooded murder of herdsmen by soldiers drafted from Abuja”, the peace initiative earlier entered into between herdsmen and farmers may collapse.
“Now that the federal government has sent soldiers to kill us, let it be known that as Nigerians, we will not allow the matter lie low as we are taking up the matter before the international community”, he stated.
Contrary to the alleged claims of soldiers' killing of Fulani Herdsmen, the Army Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, said “No such report has been lodged from anywhere. It will be investigated to confirm if those you said carried out the attack are soldiers indeed.
According to him, “This is certainly not the purpose of the operation there. You have to be sure that the incidence is not one of the atrocities of the armed gangs. This is being investigated please.”
Meanwhile, formation commanders of the Nigerian Army have moved to the various states of their responsibility to conduct operations aimed at addressing deteriorating security situation in parts of the North-central geopolitical zone.
A statement signed by the Defence spokesmen said troops deployed in Benue state have already cleared camps of all armed gangs in three local government areas of the state.
The statement also said normalcy has been restored in Guma, Gwer West and Agatu LGAs, adding that some arrests and recoveries have been made in the process.
The statement added that the ‘Operation Restore Peace’ mission has destroyed militant camps and recovered arms in Plateau and Kaduna states.
Meanwhile, at Maitsaba village of Zurmi local government area of Zamfara state, gunmen numbering about 40, who were suspected to be on revenge mission killed 16 people while setting scores of houses on fire.
A victim of the attack who said he escaped death by the whiskers, said the gunmen laid siege to the village around 12:00 noon and opened fire on everybody at sight, killing seven people.
Nine others who were on rescue mission from a neighbouring village were also killed, the source said, adding that the attack seemed to be a reprisal following the killing of a suspected notorious cattle rustler by the aggrieved inhabitants of the village some weeks ago.
It would be recalled that a video clip in circulation on handsets in the state recently had featured a gunman displaying dangerous firearms in which he boasted that any village that dared to kill one Fulani would lose 120 people in return.
Peoples daily reports that: When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Lawal Abdullahi, said the police commissioner’s convoy was on its way to the village for on-the-spot inspection promising to get back “as soon as possible”.
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