Herdsmen kill six in Kaduna village

 Suspected Fulani herdsmen on Saturday killed six farmers at Godogodo in the Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

It was gathered that the herdsmen told the villagers that their villages had become cattle grazing reserves and demanded that they vacate immediately.

But the chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of Miyetti Ahallah, Dr. Haruna Usman, said the Fulani herdsmen were on a revenge mission, noting that his men were not “crazy like that” to just kill anybody.

The Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer, Aliyu Usman, who confirmed the killing of the six, said some arrests had been made, noting that the men of the command were in full control of the situation.

Last week, 11 persons were killed and two villages razed in the state.

Usman claimed that the herdsmen had gone to the village to avenge the death of one of their leaders who was killed sometime back in one of the villages in the area.

He said, “Are Fulani crazy to just go and attack people? Did you ask the Godogodo people what they did to the Fulani?

“We already have 17 grazing reserves in Kaduna State since colonial times, and there is no dispute about that. We already have them.

“What happened was that these people went and killed a Fulani chief in one of the villages and burnt his house. The Fulani were just revenging.”

A village elder from Godogodo and a relative of one of the deceased gave the names of the victims to include Monday Hamza, 24;  Toma Masara 35; and  Chaka Rubutu 26.

He said the body of Chaka was still missing.

Those arrested by the police were: Linus (Golkofa) 20; Julius (Golkofa) 19; Boboo Okocha 18, single and  Sambo (Golkofa) 17, single.

The elder, who begged for anonymity, said, “Last Saturday, these young men that were killed went out as a group to their farms with a few others. We were told that armed Fulani men attacked them on their farms, and a few escaped; some with bullet wounds.   A search party on Sunday found them ridden with bullets and machete’ cuts and they were all dead.

“The police had taken their corpses to the Kafanchan mortuary.”

The Kaduna PPRO said, “Yes it is true that some people were killed in Godogodo on Saturday. We have deployed our men on all affected areas and we are on top of the situation. We have made some arrests and the suspects are being investigated at our Kafanchan Division.

“We want to advise residents of these areas to be cautions of where they go. They should also report all suspicious movements to the police.”

Copyright PUNCH.