Nasarawa State Attack, A Reprisal – Official

An official of the Nigeria Police Force on Monday, January 4, described the attack that occurred in Udeni Ruwa district in Nasarawa Local Government Area of Nasarawa state as a reprisal attack by Fulani herdsmen.

A herdsman escorting his cattle with AK47 riffle.

the public relations officer of Nasarawa state police command Umaru Numan said some herdsmen invaded the community at night on Sunday, January 3, killed some residents and burnt houses too.

“It was a reprisal attack. There was an initial incident were two Fulani’s were killed, so it was a reprisal attack by the Fulani’s,” Numan said.

He added that seven people were killed in Sunday, January 3 night’s attack including some houses that were razed.

The state police command has succeeded in deploying addition police officers to the district to ensure peace and safety of lives and property.

“The area is now calm; even when the incident happened, we did our best by bringing all the warring parties together. This included the traditional rulers, people on ground and the police to discuss the issues,”

“And we are still on that with the intention of adopting a community-based approach, to use dialogue to resolve the issue amicably,” he said.

Asked whether the parties involved have been able the state their differences, Numan said: “As of now we are still investigating with the help of the men deployed there and whatever findings arising from our investigation will be communicated to the public.”

Gunmen had invaded the district on Sunday, January 3, killing some residents and destroying property.

In October, 2015, a report by SMB Intelligence titled: “Terror in the Food Basket”, said that over 2,000 people were killed in conflicts between herdsmen and host communities in three states – Plateau, Benue and Nasarawa states – of the North Central region of Nigeria in 2015.

The report also said that the killings by these herdsmen in these states have taken a “systematic and methodological pattern” that increasingly appears like a deliberate act to wipe out native ethnic groups to take control of lands and fields in the region.

It also added that the herdsmen have over a period of 10 years, grown bolder in their activities due to government’s inability to respond adequately by protecting lives and property of its citizens.