Gunmen on motorbikes in northwest Nigeria's Katsina state killed at least 69 people in attacks on four villages, a local lawmaker told AFP Thursday, amid rising communal tension in the region.
The state's police chief, Hurdi Mohammed, who gave a lower toll of 30 dead, told AFP the violence was perpetrated by ethnic Fulani herdsmen who have been blamed for scores of deadly raids.
"So far, 69 bodies have been recovered from the attacks carried out by a large group of gunmen riding on motorcycles," said Katsina lawmaker Abbas Abdullahi Michika of the violence which first broke out late Tuesday.
"The victims include men, women and children. Rescue teams are still combing nearby bushes in search for more bodies," he told AFP.
He specified that 47 people were killed in the village of Mararrabar Maigora while seven deaths were recorded in both Kura Mota and Unguwar Rimi.
Another eight people were killed in Maigora, according to Michika.
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 religiously divided centre of the country, where rivalries between mostly Muslim herdsmen and mostly Christian farmers have helped fuel the unrest.
While there is no religion element to the conflict in Katsina, which is overwhelmingly Muslim, tension between the Fulani and ethnically Hausa farmers has worsened in recent months. Residents have blamed the Fulani for several violent robberies this year.
The police chief insisted the attacks were not linked to Islamist group Boko Haram, whose insurgency has killed more than 500 people in the northeast already this year.
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Must we be hearing of violence and killings everyday in our country? mr president please do something. abuchi okonkwn coments
ReplyDeletewhich president a u talking abt,d one dat sponsors boko haram,o.?
ReplyDeleteYou are a fool
DeleteHe's an idiot. allah worshipping fool! when u were killing and eating the Christians in the north, it was more of a celebration and applauding, now its dog eating dog and u want to put the blame on my beloved president. finish up what u started, kill yourselves and eat up your remains, blood sucking vampires!
DeleteYou pole pls y dnt u think before u talk? Sometimes its as if u use ur anus instead of ur mouth. Its a pity
DeleteWhen I said the Fulani people are the biggest problem in this country, some people condemned me. Now, it's clear 4 all 2 see. They first attacked people in their places of worship. Now that Christians have left dat area, they have decided 2 turn against themselves by dividing themselves in2 Fulani herdsmen and fulani farmers. God doesn't sleep. A time will come in d north when they will kill their brothers and sisters from d same womb. #foldingmyhandsandwatching#
ReplyDeleteTrue talk my brother/sister.
DeleteGod sparing our lives, we will live to see where cows and sheep will represent the North in the National Assembly cos they have wiped out all the human beings there.
Blood sucking demons.
Let's keep praying 4 them. A man, a famili a community, a Local govt council, a state, a region without Christ is full of crises. Only Jesus revolution can deliver us from these incessant troubles. O Lord, let the eyes of understanding of these people be opened.
DeleteI still can't understand what the problem is with this Fulani people. Just some days back the almost killed the governor of Benue state and some months ago Fulani people raided and killed TIV people in their ancestral villages. I beginning to think it's a bad idea welcoming Fulani as strangers in your community. If you give them a room some day they will ask for the whole house. Ingrates.
ReplyDeleteDesmond
The guy is sick and will remain sick till his BH people will kill him like a goat
ReplyDelete