SURVIVORS: The devil incarnate suspected Fulani herdsmen do not even spare little kids, the aged men and women in their madness, all were gunned down like wild animals.
As the people of Plateau State continue to bury the charred, decomposed and mutilated bodies of their loved ones, some of the victims that narrowly escaped being killed by suspected herdsmen have narrated their sad experiences to Saturday Telegraph in Jos, the state capital. Over 200 persons, including women, children, the aged and men, were killed in a gruesome manner by suspected Fulani herdsmen on Saturday, June 23, in the villages of Gindin Akwati (Nekan), Gana-Ropp, Ruku, Nghar, Kaikayi, Kakuruk, Kuzen, Shonong, Zakerek and Rokok all in Barkin Ladi and Riyom Local Government of Plateau State.
The attackers had burnt down over 50 houses in over five communities, displaced scores of residents, destroyed farm crops, food barns and properties. Those who sustained varying degrees of injuries are receiving treatment at Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), Plateau State Specialists Hospital, Vom Christian Hospital and other places in the state.
SURVIVORS TELL THEIR OWN STORIES:
I cried in silence when herdsmen killed my mum – 18-year-old student
A very pathetic story was recounted by Mabas Danjuma, an 18-year-old SS2 student of GSS Xland and who lost his father, mother and brother as result of the suspected Fulani herdsmen attacks in Gashish District of Barkin Ladi Local Government of Plateau State. While narrating his ordeal to our correspondent, Danjuma said he was at home when he heard gunshots and he immediately ran out of the House. Danjuma said: “When the Fulani herdsmen came that fateful day I was with my mother, brother and aunties at home.
They started shooting everywhere and when I heard the gunshots I ran outside the house, my brother tried to run and escape too, but they shot him. I hid somewhere watching them. Later, I heard the voice of my mother aloud from the house, then I knew she was in trouble. Almost immediately I heard a gunshot, I couldn’t hold my tears.
I cried in silence so that they would not come after me. I saw them, they wore black dresses and were speaking Fulani Language. They were burning houses, many houses were burnt and people were fleeing in droves.â€
Danjuma told Saturday Telegraph at the Internally Displaced Persons camps in Anguldi that he doesn’t know what to do now that both his parents had been killed by the Fulani herdsmen. “I don’t have parents anymore, no house for me and no school to go,†he lamented.
My wife called me before she was slain with nine-month-old baby – A Survivor, Gyang
Another distraught victim of the attack, 42-year-old Mr Nuhu John Gyang from Gindin Akwati, whose wife and nine-month child were also killed related his harrowing experience. “I left the house in the morning that Saturday to town, but in the afternoon my wife called me to ask where I was. I told her I was still in town, then she said I should not come back yet because there was problem at home. She said Fulani herdsmen were shooting with guns, that they were attacking the village.
People were not aware of this planned attack so they were taken unawares. They killed my wife and nine-month baby; as I am talking to you I have not seen their corpses. I also lost other relations in the attack, and the corpses of many others are still nowhere to be found and are in the bush. “I don’t know whether my wife who was killed with my child were buried or are still in the bush. I am here (the IDPs camp), no house and nowhere to go. Herdsmen have destroyed all my farm and burnt my house.â€
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My children, grandchildren were killed as they tried to escape- 90-year-old
An old woman, Garos Mareng, 90, is another victim of the herdsmen’s attacks in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of the state. She was badly maltreated during the attack. She recalled the traumatic experience: “The attackers came and took me outside in the rain and killed my children, they shot them, the Fulani herdsmen at Gashish.
The herdsmen had camped in the area in the last few months and have been terrorising residents by grazing their cattle on farmlands and destroying crops. Each time somebody complained, there would be trouble or would be killed.
“This time around, they mobilised and came with sophisticated weapons on June 23, 2018. When people were in the church during burial, they came and attacked us. On that fateful day, the Fulani herdsmen invaded our locality and while my grandchildren were trying to escape, they shot and killed them. “One thing I am worried about is, I don’t know who will cater for me now; they killed my children and grandchildren. I am appealing to well meaning individuals and the government to come and assist us here in this camp to survive; we don’t have anywhere to go.
I lost both my parents and brothers Deme Ishaya, a student of Government Secondary School, Gindin Akwati in Gashish, Barkin Ladi, is a survivor of the carnage by the herdsmen in the locality that led to the killing of his parents and four brothers.
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Ishaya who lost his parents to the attacks in Barkin Ladi told Saturday Telegraph that he had to hide under the bed to escape the fate that befell his parents, brothers and aunty. “My father, mother, aunty and four siblings were all killed by the Fulani, they shot all of them. What saved me was that I hid under the bed.
After shooting them, they set the house ablaze. I managed to escape when I discovered they had gone to another house; I went close to the door so that the smoke in the house would not affect me. I heard them saying (Allah Akbar). Then they continued to set houses ablaze. “I am appealing for assistance from public spirited individuals and organisations to come and assist us; we don’t have anywhere to go again. Who will pay my school fees? There’s nobody around me, my parents are gone, my siblings were all killed by the herdsmen; I am an orphan.â€
Security operatives didn’t come to our aid – Mangai
An elderly woman, Martha Mangai, 76, and also a victim of the attacks at Barkin Ladi Local Government of Plateau told Saturday Telegraph that about 100 well-armed Fulani herdsmen stormed their village in the afternoon of June 23 without any help from the security operative. Mangai said the attackers hacked many people to death and set the entire village ablaze.
“When the attackers started shooting with guns and hacking our family members, the lucky ones including, myself, escape just by the grace of God. They killed over 90 persons in our village alone including children and women,†she said.
She stated that the attack came as a shock as they do not have any plans to kill anyone. A survivor of the attacks in Ruku village, Mrs Uren, currently receiving treatment at JUTH, narrated her ordeal to Saturday Telegraph in her hospital bed. She said she escaped after her husband was killed by the Fulani herdsmen in the attacks.
“The attackers came for us around 4:00Pm; after they killed my husband, John, we hid under the bed, they set the house ablaze. Then I came out with my bible crying to God, they shot me in the hand, shot my daughter in the stomach and they left.
They wore black dresses. We later climbed the roof and hid till the next day without food; even when we called for help from the security men, they refused to come to our rescue. We asked a certain woman to tell the security men, but it was the next day that they came to convey us to the hospital here. We saw the attackers; they are Fulani herdsmen.â€
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Governor Lalong laments unending killings
Meanwhile, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State had expressed sadness and lamented the spate of killings and displacement of settlements in the state, saying his administration will not tolerate land grabbing in any part of the state. President Muhammadu Buhari had also during his visit to the state said he would not relent in his effort to protect the lives and property of every Nigerian and would not run away from that responsibility.
Culled from Saturday Telegraph
www.sojworld.com © June 30, 2018
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