Blood flowed in Etogi community, Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State, when gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, in the early hours of Saturday, killed 21 people and injured about 15 others.
This latest attack is almost two months after the last herdsmen’s attack on Lefu community, in Gurara Local Government Area, where seven people were killed and 10 others kidnapped.
It was gathered that the Saturday night attack was in reprisal for an earlier disagreement between some Fulani youths and members of the affected community, which ked to the death of a herder.
According to a source close to the community, the herdsmen were offered land by the community as their settlement, on the agreement that a certain amount of money would be paid to the village head every year.
Trouble started when the herdsmen failed to remit the agreed amount this year, claiming that the land in question now belonged to them.
This did not go down well with the youths in the community who went on rampage, leading to the death of a herder.
The herders were said to have reached out for support from their kinsmen elsewhere and launched an attack on the community mosque, when Muslim faithful were observing their early morning prayers.
Malam Mairo Mohammed, who lost a brother in the attack, told Daily Sun on phone that the attackers, who laid siege to the mosque, waiting for early morning worshippers, killed everybody in the mosque, including the Imam.
Women and children, who were woken by the commotion, took to their heels, with about 15 of them sustaining injuries in the process.
The state police command’s public relation officer, DSP Bala Elkana, confirmed the report, saying 20 people were killed in the attack.
He said the attack was reprisal for the killing of a herder by the villagers.
“The killing of a herder was managed, but it appears they were not satisfied and decided to retaliate,” Elkana said.
According to him, a number of people sustained injuries during the attack and are currently recuperating in a nearby hospital.
He said that riot policemen had been deployed to the community, while Department of the State Security and officers of the command’s Criminal Investigation Department were on hand to maintain peace. – The Sun.
