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Suspected herdsmen kill traditional ruler, nephew in Kaduna

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The spate of killings associated with Fulani herdsmen continued Sunday night, as men suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, assassinated the District Head of Fadan Karshi, in Sanga Local Government Area, in the southern part of Kaduna State.

According to reports, the District Head, Mr. Bala Madaki, 66, was killed alongside his nephew, Emmanuel Tanko.

A community leader in the area, Pastor Mike Makarfi, said they were attacked at about 10:30pm Sunday night.

He said: “It was very hot last night (Sunday night) and people were sleeping outside. Around 10 p.m., the chief moved into his house with his family. Then some gunmen who our people said were Fulani, stormed his compound and started shooting.

“They went into his room and shot him point blank. They also shot a small boy, Emmanuel Tanko, who was writing his final year secondary school exams. The boy was the nephew of the late chief.

According to him, Fadan Karshi is now deserted as shops and service centres are shut, with people either staying indoors or leaving town.

Read also: Herdsmen attacks, part of scheme for Fulani domination, IPOB claims

“Police are patrolling the streets, but I am not sure if they have any clue about the murderers. I want you to recall that this was the District Head that received former Governor Mukhtar Yero on September 22, 2014, when our women protested half naked because of the scale of killings by Fulani going on at that time.

“Today, the type of killings going on are those of isolated people. Cattle are also grazing freely on people’s farms in these areas of Sanga and people are afraid to do anything about it. Now they are targeting people and eliminating them.

“What people are saying about the killings of our district head is that he may have been killed by Fulani who have a grudge against him and this community.

Speaking further, Pastor Makarfi said in May, 2014, some Fulani armed men invaded the police station in the town and killed seven people. He added that as they were escaping, two were killed in an exchange of gunfire between them and the Police.

“The Fulani Association later petitioned the then National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd) and copied the governor. They said that our late District head should be arrested, dethroned and prosecuted for the death of the two Fulani. We still have a copy of the petition. We suspect that his death may be connected to that incident.

“This is unfortunate, because in the past one week, we have had some respite, just for the violence to turn this way,” he said.

Confirming the incident, the Kaduna State Police spokesman, DSP Zubairu Abubakar, he was aware of the incident, but that he was waiting for the DPO from Karshi to furnish him with details.

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