Communities of Adara and Gbagyi tribes in Niger and Kaduna states have lamented that the influx of Fulani herdsmen into their areas from southern Nigeria have escalated attacks on their settlements.
The communities told SaharaReporters that Fulani herdsmen are the so-called bandits terrorising their people and the reasons behind the continuous attacks was to take over their lands for grazing.
These were contained in a statement on Wednesday in Kaduna State by the National President of the Adara Development Association, Mr Awemi Maisamari.
The statement, made available to SaharaReporters, further stressed that Adara communities in Kaduna and Niger states "for several weeks have continued to suffer severe violence in the hands of armed Fulani militia, who the media has chosen to window dress as bandits and kidnappers."
The communities stated that from January 2021 to date, there had been a further escalation in the attacks.
They recalled an attack on January 24 when the herdsmen terrorists sacked nine villages and killed two persons in Adara and Gbagyi communities of Paikoro and Munya Local Government Areas of Niger State.
Maisamari said, "The displaced persons lost all their belongings and are now squatting with relations in the absence of any government relief, sympathy or mere solidarity visits.
"In the latest incident, the terrorists descended again on the peaceful Adara Village of Kujeni in Kajuru LGA of Kaduna last Saturday, burnt down all houses and killed five persons in a senseless orgy of unprovoked violence. Consequently, the above settlements have joined the infamous long list of displaced and or occupied villages.
"In all these incidents and many others, surviving victims affirm that the perpetrators are Fulani. And at last, Governor Nasir El-Rufai and others have belatedly owned up to this worn-out truth. Therefore, the pertinent questions are no longer who or how but why?
"We shall, therefore, boldly say that these preventable security challenges are deliberate efforts to inflict terror, deprivation, impoverishment, and displacement of indigenous populations to bring about demographic restructuring. These are to ultimately pave the way for full Fulani elite imperialist hegemony being secretly orchestrated by the government."
The statement added that in the Kaduna State axis, reported security breaches in January alone total up to 17 persons kidnapped, with millions of naira paid in ransom and three persons killed, which excluded mass highway abductions of commuters in the area.
The communities lamented that the Kaduna State governor had been inconsistent in his policies, attitudes, actions, and inactions. They urged him to tackle insecurity in the state.
SaharaReporters had on Wednesday reported that over 4000 fleeing herders had found their way to communities in Kaduna State, due to the vacation order given to them from some South-West states, particularly Ondo and Oyo states.
SaharaReporters had learnt from a top official in the Kaduna State Government that the influx of the herdsmen might lead to further tension and crisis in some communities in southern Kaduna which is already a flashpoint.
"Yes, more than 4,000 herdsmen who fled from the attacks in Ondo, Oyo and Ogun states have found their way back to Kaduna," the official had said.
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