A police Inspector and an Assistant Superintendent Officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, among seven others, were weekend killed by Fulani herdsmen in Niger State.
The herdsmen were said to have attacked Rafin Gona and Gbagyi villages in Bosso Local Government Area of the state in the wee hours of Sunday.
The invaders, after killing scores, set their farm produce, houses, vehicles and other belongings worth N700m on fire.
Confirming the incident to newsmen, the state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Bala Elkana, said, “The corpses have been recovered.
“Security operatives are combing the bush around the area because the incident just happened and there could be more casualties.
“The situation has been brought under control following a quick intervention by the state police commissioner, who hurriedly deployed a reinforcement team in the affected villages.
“Fulani and Gbagyi elders had been mobilized to organize meeting with their respective people in order to forestall the possibility of a backlash as well as finding a lasting solution to such incident in future,” the PPRO said.
Commenting on the incident, the Chairman of Bosso Local Government Area, Alhaji Isah Wakili, said about 6,000 villagers were displaced following the midnight attack.
He said the bodies of the police inspector and that of the NSCDC official and seven other villagers have been recovered.
Wakili told newsmen shortly after conducting members representing the area in the National Assembly, Senator David Umaru and Salihu Shandafi of the House of Representatives, round the affected villages.
He said, “I can tell you that almost all the houses in the villages including yam and corn barns were completely burnt in the attack. We put the estimate of all destroyed property at over N700m.
“The killed Inspector and the NSCDC official were on a rescue mission when they were killed by the Fulani attackers.
“While all the displaced 3,000 Gbagyi villagers and about 2,000 Rafin Gona people were taking refuge in neighbouring Gbagyi communities, the 1,000 displaced Fulani herdsmen were being kept at the IDP camp located inside a private farm belonging to a former head of state, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.).” Wakili stated.
Also commenting on the incident, Senator David Umaru, representing Niger East Senatorial District at the Senate, described the attack as barbaric and inhuman.
Umaru stressed the need for the government to take a decisive action to stop the recurrence of such an attack, adding that government should urgently provide relief materials for the victims to prevent humanitarian crisis in the affected villages.
He said, “What I have seen is heart-breaking, it is an act of wickedness and complete disregard for human life. This is a very serious problem as a lot of people have been displaced.
“Most of them have fled from their houses and even if they were here, they would not have anywhere to stay because their houses had been burnt including their clothes and food barns. This kind of situation is not acceptable.”
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