37 killed by herdsmen in recent Niger attacks

Marauding Fula­ni herdsmen have continued to cause havoc in different parts of the country – leaving death and destruction in their wake.
The Niger State govern­ment on Sunday disclosed that rampaging Fulani herds­men have killed 37 villagers in some communities in the Niger East Senatorial Dis­trict.
The state government disagreed with the police that they have brought the situation under control by flushing out the Fulani ma­rauders from the affected communities.
Speaking on the rising Fulani herdsmen’s attack, the Special Adviser to the Gov­ernor on Niger East Mat­ters, Mr. Pius Wakili, said that contrary to the police report, the armed herdsmen were having a field day as they have killed 37 people in Allawa, Galadima Kogo, Er­ena and other villages in the senatorial district.

Wakili said the Fulani herdsmen were still on the prowl in several villages in the Niger East Senatorial Dis­trict – with dangerous weap­ons.
Wakili, a former member of the State House of Assem­bly, said that it was not true that the police have been able to curb the movement of the Fulani herdsmen or chase them away from the various forests where they launched the first attack early this year.
He said: “We have reports from most villages that these cattle rustlers carrying AK-47 rifles are moving freely in forests in Allawa, Galadima Kogo, Erena and other vil­lages.
“About 37 people were reported to have been killed in several attacks on these villages by these herdsmen while several properties were destroyed”.
The governor’s aide there­fore called on the Joint Se­curity Task Force on Cattle Rustling “to intensify surveil­lance patrol in villages across Zone B Senatorial District of Niger State as these armed herdsmen suspected to be rustlers have begun to hiber­nate in the areas months after they were dislodged.”
He commended the Joint Task Force for curtailing the activities of cattle rustlers but noted that the reappearance of the “thieves” had become a source of concern to the vil­lagers who can no longer go to their farms.
“There is the need for se­curity men to intensify pa­trols of the areas because our people have been noticing movements of armed men, some without cows parad­ing the villages with sophis­ticated weapons,” Wakili said.
When contacted, the State Command Police Public Re­lations Officer, DSP Bala Elikana, said that the author­ities were just hearing of the report and “we will investi­gate it and act appropriately.”
Elikana said that the Joint Task Force was still carrying out its operation of monitor­ing the forest.