Kano – Gunmen have killed at least 30 people, including children, in a farming village in Nigeria’s northern Kaduna state, residents and Amnesty International said on Monday
Locals blamed the fresh bout of communal violence, which occurred overnight, on suspected cattle herders.
Kaduna state government did not provide a toll but “directed security agencies to intensify operations” to arrest the perpetrators.
Clashes in Nigeria’s northwest and northern states have their roots in tensions over land between nomadic herders and pastoral farmers.
In places, the attacks have taken on an ethnic and religious dimension in Africa’s most populous country.
But the impact of climate change has added an extra layer of stress to the tensions as the populations grow, farmers seek more space for crops and grazing routes come under stress from droughts.
The attackers stormed Naridon village at around midnight (2300 GMT), firing sporadically and setting houses and shops ablaze, residents and a local official said.
“So far we have recovered 30 corpses, and there are fears that the death toll could rise because some of the injured victims remain in critical condition,” the secretary to village head Dogon Rana, told AFP.
Some people were still missing, he said.
Rubean James, a local resident, described hearing gunshots.
He and his family managed to escape through a back door and hid in the bush.
“After the sunrise, we went back and discovered that some people were killed. In all, I can confirm 31 dead and other people were injured,” he said.
Another local, Barnabas Musa, said the attack lasted around three hours.
“We gathered at least 30 dead bodies, including women and children,” Musa told AFP.
‘We’ll kill your children’
Amnesty International said it “strongly condemns (the) killing of at least 30 people”, saying the raid was “perhaps one of the deadliest attacks” on southern Kaduna villages.
It said it obtained images showing “entire families locked up and slaughtered inside their bedrooms. Children had their throats slit and their heads left with massive cuts.”
Community leader Yunusa Babados said the attackers broke into family homes, including one where six children from the same household were murdered.
“In one family, they killed six children and told the parents: ‘We will spare you and kill all your children,'” Babados told AFP.
In all, eight children were confirmed dead across the village, he said.
The attackers fled into nearby bushes as security forces approached, leaving behind some of their cattle near the perimeter of the village, locals said.
The bloodbath prompted the Southern Kaduna Peoples’ United Associations (SOKAPU) to warn that “escalating” mass killings, abductions and land destruction were devastating rural communities.
“Our people in the remote settlements… continue to bleed,” SOKAPU said in an open letter to Kaduna state police.
Calm partially returned to the village following the deployment of police and military personnel, residents said.
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Source: AFP
