A family of seven was murdered when
armed Fulani tribesmen attacked a village in southern Kaduna State on 30
January.
According to reports received by
Christian Solidarity Worldwide-Nigeria (CSW-N), Manyekrun Village in the Sabon
Garin Manchok District of Kaura Local Government Area (LGA) was attacked at
around 11pm that night. The assailants murdered Mr Abin Kaawai, his wife
Ruth Abin, and their children, Indip, Emma, Cletus, Bitrus and Dauda. CSW-N
also reported that the area is extremely tense following the murders, as angry
young men set fire to the homes of some local Fulanis.
Attacks by armed Fulanis on villages
in Kaura LGA, which have been have been ongoing since 2011, appear to have
increased in frequency and intensity. During 2013, at least 19 people were
killed, an unknown number were injured and an estimated 4000 displaced when
armed Fulanis attacked Mafang and Zilang villages over the Easter weekend.
Nine villages were attacked and around fourteen people were killed in the
Telak District of Kaura LGA on 13 September. Then on 27 September, fourteen
people were killed during attacks on Tsokong and Zagwong villages in the
Zangang District. The increasingly sophisticated weaponry and coordination
employed by the assailants, and the fact that both churches and schools were
destroyed during attacks in September 2013, have given rise to speculation of
the increasing involvement in these attacks of Boko Haram elements.
Kaura LGA borders Plateau State and
is in relatively close proximity to Riyom, Bokkos and Birkin Ladi LGAs, where
night attacks on non-Muslim villages have occurred regularly since 2010.
This year, two people were killed and sixteen severely injured when gunmen
stormed a New Years Eve service at a Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) church
in Maikatako village in Bokkos LGA. On 6 January, 33 people were killed,
several were injured, around 40 houses were burned down, and livestock was
either slaughtered or looted during an armed attack on Shonong Village in the
Bachit District of Bokkos LGA. The assailants struck the village in the
morning, after most men had gone to the fields. Consequently, most of the
casualties were elderly, female or minors.
Overnight 14-15 March 2014, about 50
assailants armed with guns and machetes stormed the villages of Angwan Gata,
Chenshyi and Angwan Sankwai, attacking locals in their sleep and torching their
homes,“We have at least 120peple
from the three villages attacked by the gunmen”leaving scores of residents
injured. Some of the victims “were shot and
burnt in their homes while others were hacked with machetes,” leaving several people displaced“The attackers looted food and set
fire to the barns during the attacks” .
CSW's Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas
said, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the relatives and friends of Mr Abin
Kaawai and his family, and with the people of Shonong and other areas that have
suffered attacks. It is deeply concerning that the perpetrators are still able
to operate with relative impunity in this geographical location. Worse still,
this long-term absence of security and justice is now engendering reprisal
attacks, adding to a general sense of lawlessness. We urge the security
services to formulate arrangements that will ensure the protection of remote
communities. Given the geographical proximity of these targeted areas, any new
security arrangements must include a comprehensive and unified strategy
encompassing Kaduna and Plateau States and parts of southern Bauchi State, if
this is not in place already."
For further information or to arrange interviews please
contact Kiri Kankhwende, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44
(0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332 9663, email kiri@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian
organisation working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights,
in the pursuit of justice.
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