Herdsmen kill 40, destroy properties worth N1bn in 4 months —Plateau community

The Irigwe community in Bassa and Jos North local government areas of Plateau State has lamented the wanton killing and destruction of properties in the area by herdsmen in the last four months, stating that a total of 40 persons have been killed while property worth N1 billion have been destroyed.

In a statement by the National President of Irigwe Development Association, Robert Dodo, made available to Ripples Nigeria on Wednesday, the community said 20 houses belonging to the natives and over 500 cultivated farmlands were destroyed during the period under review.

Giving a breakdown of the attacks and the names of victims, Dodo noted that the killings started at “Dudun Maiyanga village with the murder of two people on February 2, 2021, by the herdsmen, who later escalated the attacks to 15 other villages, including Zirshe, Kishosho, Rikwe-Chongo, Ntireku, Nchenyu, Kamaru, Ribakwa, Dong, Rafiki, Nkienhie, Kpachudu, as well as Ncha.”

According to the National President, in spite of the series of unabated attacks in Irigwe land, they had received no serious attention from those whose primary responsibility was to secure the lives and property of the people.

“We are pained and have been allowed to mourn and grieve on our own as if we don’t have those at the helm of affairs seeing and watching the Fulani nihilists unleash terror on our people,” the statement reads.

“What is happening in Irigwe land is nothing short of genocide and ethnic cleansing orchestrated by the Fulani to wipe away the entire Irigwe tribe or if this seems unachievable, to depopulate their number with the aim of taking over their ancestral land.

Read also: Kano police boss directs herdsmen entering state to obtain clearance

“It is worthy of note that from the beginning of 2021 to date, over 40 Irigwe people have been killed by Fulani nihilists in Bassa and Jos North LGAs, over 20 houses razed, several farming implements and household items carted away, over 500 cultivated farmlands worth over N1bn destroyed, and many other unbearable losses.

“Houses that have been burnt down have not received any attention or compensation given to those whose farmlands were destroyed.

“There is no assessment carried out by the local, state and federal governments in an attempt to rebuild them.

“We are concerned because our people have been confined to internally displaced situation in a continuous brutal show of force by the Fulani militia against the Irigwe people and nobody has been arrested, investigated and prosecuted according to the law of the country even with the names of the Fulani nihilists suspected to be perpetrators of these callous and barbaric acts.

“We are worried because their continuous living without being apprehended is like encouraging criminality.”

By Isaac Dachen…

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