By Aideloje Ojo
Minna
At least nine bodies have been recovered from the weekend’s attack by Fulani herdsmen on Rafin Gona and BCC Gbagyi villages in Bosso local government area of Niger state, while 6, 000 villagers were displaced.
Chairman of the local government area, Alhaji Isah Wakili, stated this yesterday while conducting members representing the area at the National Assembly, Senator David Umaru, and Rep. Salihu Shandafi, round the affected villages on sympathy visit.
Wakili said one police inspector and an Assistant Superintendent of the NSCDC were also killed during the attack, adding that more bodies were still being recovered.
He said almost all the houses in the villages, including yam and corn barns, were completely burnt in the attack, estimating total cost of damaged properties at over N700 million.
He said over 3, 000 villagers were displaced from Rafin Gona, while over 2,000 others were from BCC village adding that about 1,000 displaced Fulani were at IDPs camp located inside a private farm belonging to former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd).
Speaking with journalists, Senator David Umaru representing Niger East Senatorial District at the National Assembly, described the attack as “barbaric, inhuman and a dastardly.”
He said: “What I have seen is heart breaking, it is act of wickedness and complete disregard to human live. This is a very serious problem; a lot of people have been displaced. Most of them have fled from their houses and even if they were here, they would not have anywhere to stay because their houses have been burnt including cloths and food barns. This kind of situation is not acceptable.”
He sympathised with the villagers and urged them to continue to maintain peace assuring that he was going to take up the matter at the Senate towards finding a lasting solution to the problem of herdsmen/ farmers’ clashes.
“The Senate has set up a committee on this Fulani herdsmen and communal clashes I will liaise with the committee to also look into this problem in this constituency.”
