•We have been under siege for 5 years –Atyab leader
From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
A survivor of the latest attack at Atak’Njei community in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Abigail Babangida, has narrated how the gunmen stormed the community a few minutes before 9pm on April 12 and started shooting indiscriminately, forcing their way into homes and leaving no fewer than nine persons dead, including her eight-year-old daughter.
Earlier, the marauding gunmen had wreaked havoc at Langson community in the same local government council, where 10 persons were killed and several others were critically wounded.
“I was about to go to the bathroom before retiring to my room for the night when I heard gunshots right in front of the house. That was a few minutes to 9pm that day.
“The gunshots were so close that I could not enter the room to go and carry my daughter who was already sleeping because darkness had set in and villagers had gone to bed.
“But before I left for the bathroom with just wrapper on, I had jammed the door believing that she was safe while I ran as fast as my legs could carry me through another way into the bush under the cover of darkness.
“I thought of going back into the room again to carry her but, the truth is, I could not have been able to carry her because she was a big child and I was the only one around her then.
“It was a terrible experience I don’t wish anyone, not even my enemies. She would have been eight years by Wednesday, April 19, 2023. One thing is that, If I had returned in an attempt to carry her, I would have been shot together with her because everything happened fast. They forced their way in and shot her dead right in her sleep in my bedroom”, Abigail lamented on phone as she broke down in tears.
There have been different narratives on the rationale behind killings in the state, especially in the southern part. Some claimed it was a fallout of previous political and ethnic unrests, others claimed it is all about reprisals while some see it as an attempt by strangers who have highly placed individuals and institutions to take over the ancestral land of the people of Southern Kaduna.
Whichever the case is, lives are being lost, livestock being wasted, properties are being destroyed and many are displaced each time crisis erupted, thereby crumbling the economic development of this area and the state as a whole because no investor will put his money in an environment with uncertainties.
Reacting, the National President, Atyap Community Development Association (ACDA), Mr. Sam Timbuwak Achie, who condemned the killings of his people, said the affected communities in the recent attacks have been under siege for five years despite constant reporting the attacks to the state government and security agents.
He said: “The area has been under siege for five years now. We have been trying to build peace in the area but it appears some forces are behind the unpleasant happenings in the area.
“The truth is, the government and security agents know where these killers are but they have refused to act in such a way that these killings will stop. They know these criminal elements are right there in Zango.
“They know where they are and that is why it is difficult for us to believe that those who are constitutionally saddled with the responsibility of protecting our lives and property are not part of the whole thing.
“In fact, we have had a situation where military men gave these criminals cover to attack innocent harmless villagers. Let me shock you, there was a time we had an attack in one of the areas here in Southern Kaduna, and the policemen on duty were able to neutralise some of the criminals in a gun duel.
“Immediately after that, those policemen were transferred out of that place. So, what other evidence do you need to know that these criminals have forces supporting their man’s inhuman acts against humans?
“Let me also tell you that, there are three military checkpoints along the road close to these villages. It is not possible for men manning these checkpoints to deny the fact that they were hearing gunshots close to them in addition to the fact that the killers have to pass through the main road.
“One thing is clear, what they are doing is to frustrate us from our land. But of course, it has pleased the Almighty God to give us this land and we cannot vacate our land for anybody under whatever guise. We will continue to pray and rely on God to keep us where He has planted us.”
On the alleged killing of a young herder in Langson a few weeks ago he said: “We used our local intelligence to know the man that perpetrated the act and we immediately scheduled a meeting with Fulani leaders in the area and agreed to support peace in the land because we were able to identify the culprit and we made his details available to the security agents.
“This is a boy who is not leaving in the area but just came around from Kaduna. After the meeting with Fulani leaders and submission of details of this young man to security, some criminals attacked the village and killed 17 people and that has kept us worried.”
Efforts to reach the spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, Mohammed Jalige, failed as he neither answered nor return calls put across to him via his mobile phone for comments.