Communities in Southern Kaduna in Nigeria’s North West state of Kaduna have bemoaned the perennial killings in the enclave and the refusal of security agencies to stem what many now call ethnic cleansing.
In recent years, the people of Southern Kaduna have been at the receiving end of vicious attacks and mindless killings by suspected Fulani herdsmen in what many say is part of plan to forcefully eject the indigenes and take over their land.
However, the hapless people of beleaguered enclave said over 518 people have been killed from 2017 to date.
Samuel Achi, the president of the Atyap Community Development Association, ACDA, disclosed this during a protest on Monday.
He alleged that security personnel drafted to calm the situation are taking sides.
According to him, suspected herders had continued to wreak havoc on the community without necessary intervention by the security agencies.
He faulted the 2023 first quarter security report presented to the Kaduna State government by the Sector Commander, Operation Safe Haven in Southern Kaduna, Brigadier General Timothy Opurum, on the recent killings in Atyap land.
“At the last count, 20 villages have been ransacked, 18 villages burnt down, while 518 people have been killed, with thousands of victims who have taken refuge across many communities from 2017 till date”, he stated.
Meanwhile, the Q1 security report by the Kaduna State government said 241 were killed and 746 persons kidnapped as attacks surged in the period under review.