Heavily armed persons suspected to be Fulani herdsmen have allegedly slaughtered over 100 persons in Karamai village in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, during an early raid, Tuesday.
The attack comes barely a week after Governor Nasir El-Rufai said 66 Fulanis were killed in various settlements in Maro and Iri districts of Kajuru.
A resident of Karamai, who gave his name simply as James told this newspaper some Fulani militiamen were dropped off by a river close to Angwa Barde on Monday night.
He said residents of the community, who had come under attack on February 10, scampered to protect their area from a possible invasion.
But because telecommunication signals are rare to come by in the village, it was not possible to alert other communities to brace to defend their areas.
“We learnt that some herdsmen were being dropped off by the river near Angwa Barde community and they immediately rallied their youth to prepare to defend the area,” the source said.
“Unfortunately, they could not inform our people about the presence of the killers because they don’t have the network in their village and one has to get to one of the hills far away to be able to make a call.
“From the dry river bank, the herdsmen moved towards our village and early today, they started killing our people. I escaped into the bush and ran to safety. I guessed over 100 people may have died and the attack continued till daybreak.”
Another source in Maro Gida said gunshots were heard from the direction of Karami between 3 am – 5 am on Tuesday, adding that the police and soldiers deployed to the area later in the day.
“We have seen policemen and soldiers rushing to the area this morning. We learnt so many people have been killed but we can tell the number.
“We have mobilised our youth to protect our community because we don’t know where they will attack next,” the source, who pleaded not to be named for safety reasons, said.
When contacted, the military spokesperson in the state, Dole Mohammed, a colonel, said he is not aware of the attack but advised the people of the affected area to immediately contact the soldiers at Kasuwan Magana for assistance.
“We are not aware of any attack in the area but we have our men in Kasuwan Magana. Let the people call our people stationed there to assist them,” Col. Mohammed said.
Attempts to speak with the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Yakubu Sabo, failed as he would not pick calls or respond to text messages.
Suspected Fulani herdsmen last week attacked Angwa Barde where 11 persons were killed including an unborn baby in a night raid.
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While the media never reported the attack, the state government had raised the alarm over the alleged recovery of 66 Fulanis corpses in settlements in Iri and Maro areas of Kajuru.
Mr. El-Rufai, who took journalists to the site of the crime, however, failed to produce a single body that was allegedly recovered.
Instead, both the military and the police, two agencies the governor said recovered the corpses, denied recovering any dead body, even when they jointly corroborated Mr. El-Rufai’s clams.
The governor went on to say the figure of those killed in Fulani settlements had gone up to over 100 and still counting but still failed to prove his claims.
