Gunmen Kill 69 in Katsina

At least 69 people have been killed in simultenous  attacks  on four  villages in Katsina State.

Witnesses said the attackers, believed to be Fulani herdsmen, rode motorcycles into the  villages – Mararaban Maigoro, Goran Mota and Ungwan Rimi – in broad daylight on Wednesday and killed whoever they found.

A lawmaker  from the state, Abdullahi  Machika,  told both the Agence France Presse and the British Broadcasting Corporation that 47 of the victims were murdered and buried in Mararraban Maigoro.

Machika added that seven were buried in  Goran Mota, seven in Ungwan Rimi and eight  in Maigoro.

Machika    said,  “As I speak,  we are still searching for dead bodies in the bushes. The attackers were  not thieves but   killers. They did not steal anything; they came to  kill  people. The  people, who looked like Fulani herdsmen   killed 69 villagers and burnt scores of houses between Tuesday and Wednesday.

But the  state’s Police Commissioner, Hurdi Mohammed,  who also confirmed the attacks, gave a lower casualty  toll of 30.

He also said  the violence was  not perpetrated by Boko Haram insurgents but by   Fulani herdsmen, who had  been blamed for scores of deadly raids in the past.

The latest  incident  took place barely  24 hours  after  Fulani cattle rustlers  attacked the convoy of the Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, in Tse-Akenyi.

Suswam  was on  a fact-finding mission following the continuous invasion of  many communities on the  Daudu-Gbajimba road by  herdsmen.

Fulani leaders have for years complained about the loss of grazing land which is crucial to their livelihood, with resentment between the herdsmen and their agrarian neighbours rising over the past decade.

Most of the Fulani-linked violence has been concentrated in the   North-Central, where rivalries between mostly Muslim herdsmen and mostly Christian farmers have helped fuel  violence.

Follow Me On Twitter & Instagram: @effiongeton