Chairman of the Kaduna State Chapter of Miyetti Ahallah(association of
herdsmen), Haruna Usman, has said that last week Saturday's attack by
herdsmen in Godogodo village in Kaduna state was a reprisal one after
the villagers killed a Fulani chief. In an interview with Vanguard,
Usman said;
“Are Fulani crazy to just go and attack people? Did you ask the
Godogodo people what they did to the Fulani? We already have 17 grazing
reserves in Kaduna State since colonial times, and there is no dispute
about that. What happened was that these people went and killed a Fulani
Chief in one of the villages and burnt his house. The Fulani are just
revenging.”
Refuting Usman's claim, the villagers said the armed herdsmen had asked
them to vacate their village, saying it had become a cattle grazing
reserve. A village elder from Godogodo gave the names of those killed
during last Saturday's attack as Monday Hamza, 24, married with three
children; Toma Masara, 35, married with three children and Chaka Rubutu,
26, married with four children, Linus, 20, married with two childrn,
Julius, 19, married with a child, Boboo Okocha, 18, single and Sambo,
17, single. According to the village head, the body of Chaka was still
missing.
“Godogodo is full to the brim with refugees, who have fled their
villages seeking for safety here because it is a bigger village, close
to an expressway and has better security. After the attack, they would
cut down all the crops for their cattle to eat. There will be hunger
this year in these villages.”he said
Meanwhile the state police command confirmed the incident and have deployed officers to the affected areas.
