Weekend rampage: Fulani bandits kill, kidnap scores across the country

Sopuruchi Onwuka

Armed Fulani bandits were on rampage weekend, wreaking havoc across towns and villages in the country, killing and abducting dozens of people including security operatives.

However, as the regular attacks and ransom seeking mass abductions continue to wear down the people and draw a spate of national outcry, President Muhammadu Buhari declined the offer of the British government to assist Nigeria fight them. He rather called for help in addressing Libya’s crisis.

President Buhari who was in the Commonwealth heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda, turned offer of assistance from the United Kingdom and advised the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson help Libya stabilize politically.

 President Buhari told the British Prime Minister that the bandits terrorizing the country spilled in from Libya where, according to him, regime collapse has led to fragmentation of the country into militant camps.

He did not by any means state what his outgoing government would do to bequeath a peaceful country to the next government.

The Oracle Today that the British military intelligence system has full and granular details of the situation in Libya. It also has sufficient information about the source of the bandits that has flooded into the nation since 2013.

Just few weeks after some 40 worshippers were murdered by gunmen at a church in Owo, Ondo State, communities across the country suffered attacks and abductions last weekend.

At Isuochi in Umunneochi council area of Abia State, gunmen snatched young men in two separate attacks at Ugwuodo road on Friday and Saturday. The gunmen identified by local witnesses as  Fulani struck in broad daylight across two days without any challenge or attempt at a chase from mobile police units and military operational base all stationed close to the scene of the two attacks.

The town which is bounded by neighboring towns in Anambra, Enugu and Imo states has been under siege since 2013 when bandits infiltrated a nearby cattle market where genuine cow dealers have settled for over 20 years.

In Kogi State, gunmen suspected to be Fulani also launched an attack on the Okehi Area Command of the Nigeria Police at Eika-Ohizenyi in the Okehi Local Government Area of the state on Friday, killing one a police inspector identified as Mr Jibril, who was said to be on duty.

three police officers were killed at the Adavi Police Station in the state was also attacked earlier in June.

It was gathered that the gunmen numbering seven allegedly stormed the station on the outskirts of the community at about midnight on Friday and opened fire on the station before destroying a part of the building with a bomb.

Local sources said the attackers who operated for more than two hours without any challenge from security agents or residents in the community had invaded the station with heavy gunfire and explosives which, according tom them brought down part of the station’s building.

It was gathered that a police officer simply identified as Jibril was killed in the attack while the only operational vehicle in the police station was destroyed. It was learnt that the corpse of the slain cop was taken to Obangede General Hospital mortuary.

The bullets were said to have perforated windows of the Eika community central mosque and a Catholic church near the police station during the attack.

Local sources said nobody has been arrested in connection with the attack.

The state police spokesperson, SP William Ovye Aya, in a statement on Friday said the Commissioner of Police, Edward Egbuka, who visited the scene for an on-the-spot assessment, ordered the deployment of additional operational assets to restore normalcy in the area.

He added that the CP ordered the commencement of investigation into the incident to unravel the cause and bring the perpetrators to book.

In Benue State, five persons, including two policemen and a university lecturerwere killed by suspected Fulani gunmen in two separate attacks on Thursday.

Two policemen were killed by gunmen and their guns taken away by their assailants at the Yelwata area of the Guma council area of the state. The policemen were said to be on duty when they were shot dead.

It was learnt that the second incident occurred at a relaxation spot in Jootar Mbaterem area.

The immediate past chairman of the Ukum Local Government, Steve Ayua, confirmed the killing of a university lecturer and two others in the council.

When contacted, the state police spokesperson, SP Catherine Anene, only confirmed the killing of the policemen in Guma.

“I received information that two policemen died in an operation at Makurdi-Lafia road but I have yet to receive details, please,” Anene added.

At Rafin-Daji community, Gurdi ward of Abaji Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) the bandits abducted 22 farmers and burnt tractors during a coordinated attack.

Rafin-Daji shares boundary with Zago community in Niger State through River Gurara.

A farmer who narrowly escaped the attack, Saidu Yakubu, said the incident happened around 2 pm on Thursday when the bandits in their large numbers, wielding AK-47 rifles, attacked farmers that were cultivating in the community.

He said the bandits, who went on rampage shooting sporadically into the air before whisking away the farmers, burnt down two tractors used to cultivate a large farmland in the community before the attack.

He also said 13 members of the same family were among the 22 abducted victims.

He gave the names of the abducted 13 family members as Ismaila Barde, Mustapha Barde, Nasiru Barde, Abdulkarim Barde, Sanusi Barde, Usman, Barde. Others are Nura Barde, Abdullahi Barde, Babawo Barde, Farida Ayuba, Hauwa Ayuba and Hussaini Abdullahi.

He said the 13 family members, including two females, were working in their separate farmlands when the bandits swooped on them.

The district head of Gurdi chiefdom, Alhaji Bala Mohammed, confirmed the abduction of farmers and burning of tractors in a phone conversation with journalists on Friday.

Bala said he had reported the kidnap incident at the Yaba police division and the authorities of Abaji Area Council.

The spokesperson of FCT police command, ASP Oduniyi Omotayo, confirmed the kidnap incident, saying the farmers were working when gunmen kidnapped them.

“And upon receipt of the information, a combined team of police officers from various tactical and intelligence units of the command, vigilantes and local hunters stormed the forest, combing the place aggressively,” he said.

He said efforts were ongoing to rescue the victims and bring perpetrators to book while monitoring and the surveillance of the community continues.