Nineteen Fulani herdsmen were killed yesterday at a funeral in a settlement in Keana LGA, Nasarawa State.
Commenting on the incident the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) members said that it could affect the ongoing reconciliation between farmers and herdsmen in 10 states.
While locals blame the attack on soldiers, the Defence Headquarters said they had not even received any report about the killings.
An eye-witness said the soldiers stormed the Fulani settlement and started shooting mourners. 15 people became victims of the shooting, and 4 more people died at the hospital.
“No one suspected such bizarre killings because Keana area had witnessed peaceful coexistence between farmers and Fulani herdsmen. We cannot understand why these troops invaded a peaceful area,” another source said.
Appealing to the government the National Secretary of MACBAN, Alhaji Sale Bayari, explained:
“We are appealing to the government that it is not in the interest of this country for Fulani to be militarised because the situation could be worse than we may imagine. We are doing our best to calm down the aggrieved Fulani who were agitated over the killings in Keana… For this kind of jungle justice to be meted out is unfair and inhuman.”
The investigation into the case has already started, the police are to find out who is responsible for the attack.
Source: The Nation
This is the outcome of irresponsible profiling of the Fulani herdsmen as terrorist. It exposes all Fulani’s to attack and will give rise to revenge attacks. We are hearing of many attacks by uniformed groups assumed to be army even though BH also uses army uniforms.to lay persons like us, it appears that there is poorly coordinated, weak and badly implemented responce to our security challenges. We should press our government to protect ALL CITIZEN as primary function.