Dogon-Dawa is a sleepy village of about 50,000 residents, mostly Hausa traders and sedentary Fulani herdsmen. The community which is 60 kilometres from Kaduna city is under Birnin Gwari.
On October 14, 2012, precisely around 4:30am, a group of notorious armed robbers, perhaps in their hundreds, laid siege to the community in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, shooting and killing over 24 residents. This was met with a nationwide condemnation. But weeks after this, the marauders were back again, while the residents were left to their fate.
According to the District Head of Dogon-Dawa, Alhaji Musa Yerima, the marauders sneaked into the community at night and maimed their victims, stealing their livestock, while retreating into the surrounding forest.
The Yariman Birnin Gwari, Alhaji Musa Aliyu told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY that they still harbour the fear of another attack because the armed robbers that invaded them on that day were in large numbers, and based on information available to them, these gangs have re-grouped and may launch another attack soon.
He decried the insufficiency of security operatives in the area, which he said could easily be overpowered if the gang decides to pay another ‘visit’. With just a few soldiers stationed in one particular area at the entrance of the town, the neighbouring villages and settlements have been left unmanned.
LEADERSHIP SUNDAY sought to know why the villagers were massacred. Alhaji Aliyu explained that some nefarious activities of hoodlums within and outside their communities had prompted the meeting of traditional rulers in the area with security operatives.
According to him, the out come of that meeting was the resolve to rejuvenate their vigilante groups for self-defence and to check the activities of hoodlums in the respective communities.
The District Head alleged that the vigilante groups had helped in arresting suspicious criminals and handed them to the police at Birnin Gwari but the criminals were later released. He claimed that the police also made some arrests, and later released the suspects, a development which did not go down well with the community.
“When they were released, it seems that they became even stronger, mounting road blocks almost every day to rob passengers; some of them would evade the villages and take anything-from livestock; cows, sheep, motor bikes, to other personal effects. We have been calling on the government long before the massacre, appealing to them to come to our aid, and I even told Governor Yakowa when he came to sympathise with us that we need more security in the entire community.
They only brought a few soldiers here, and these armed robbers are too many. When the killing was going on that day, we phoned the Birnin Gwari Divisional Police Officer, but the Police did not come until after 8am when they had completed their evil mission.
Alhaji Musa Aliyu also said the Kaduna State Government had sent N500,000, representing N20,000 cash gift to each family that lost a bread winner, in addition to some food items like rice, palm oil, maggi seasoning etc. “But I tell you, we are frustrated here and scared for our lives” said Aliyu. He said the entire community is observing special prayers for God’s intervention to save them. Meanwhile, many have deserted the town.
Alhaji Saminu Abu who lost his cousin and a brother in the massacre said, “I woke up that day to perform ablution as it was nearly time for the subhi (morning prayer) and just then, I heard gunshots from behind. We first thought it was coming from the police station, wondering what was happening because prior to that time, there has not been any police presence in the police station for quite some time.”
“We were all shocked,” he continues. “But we managed to perform ablution together with my brother and his son. One of my nephews opened the gate for us; I went to the Izala Mosque and the others went to Darika Mosque. There were only three of us at the Mosque which is not far from the police station. We did not notice the criminals or have any idea what their mission was.”
Alhaji Saminu said it was from inside the mosque they heard voices saying “come round this way” in Hausa. That was when they realised what was happening and ran out to hide behind a fence. Then they saw them in black clothes, together with one of our vigilante members whom they captured earlier and held him hostage and using him as a guide to the hapless residents. They did not kill him.
“When they noticed no one was inside our mosque, they marched straight to the Darika mosque. The shooting continued and we were there hiding. After a while, it was quiet,” said Saminu Abu.
“We approached the other mosque, and on our arrival, we just saw our people lying dead apparently felled by the bullets of the invaders. I saw my brother and his son lying there dead”, Saminu Abu added sadly.
According to Alhaji Saminu Abubakar, nobody has been arrested for the massacre yet.
“There is one officer in Kuyallo, that we suspect worked with the armed robbers because, before that day, there was a group of suspected armed robbers that our vigilante group went and arrested in Kuyallo, and on their way back, the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO) stopped them and intervened, he even brought out a pistol and threatened to shoot the vigilante group members if they refused to allow the suspect go.
There were many people at that time and they over powered the officer and took the suspect. The officer told them that if they refused to allow the suspect go, they will bear the consequence.
“We did not take the warning seriously, that’s what the vigilante people told us, and you can conclude from what happened thereafter.”
Alhaji Saminu Abu, further said; “These people are still inside the bush and they continue killing people and taking their properties, and nobody has attempted to make any arrest. We know some of them; we used to suspect them by their attitude.
There was a time before our former District Head, Malam Makama was killed, that we suspected they were the ones that came later on and robbed our people and killed one person. We wrote to the Commissioner of Police, and they were caught but were also released. After a while they came back with their vehicles, saying they will revenge. They came in their multitudes, over 100 of them, mostly dressed in black clothes and armed with machine guns.”
“Just yesterday they came here claiming that they saw corpses of their own men in the bush, threatening that they will return. So we are really scared for our lives.
Alhaji Saminu further told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY that people have been suffering since most of the bread winners of families were brutally killed, saying that it was very bad indeed.
“We have been left alone to fend for ourselves and life can never be the same again. Thank God that the State government has brought in the military, but we are still in doubt and don’t think the soldiers can stop them since no one knows how they will come again. We are in the open; they may come in the night without shooting but use their machetes and knives to enter from house to house and kill our people since they know the nook and crannies of this place.”
Continuing, he says “they normally hide around UAC farms close to Makarfi farm in Giwa Local Government Area. They also have other camps at Hayin Damari, just after Gaban Kare and we know their leaders. Before this last massacre happened, some of our vigilante group members had been to their camp looking for rustled cows.
The armed robbers told them to check if the cows are there or not, and they brought out their guns and said “if you are here to fight, we will kill you all.” The vigilante men told them they did not come there to fight and they left. There is another camp around Kwadaga and there is yet another camp in Yan Birni, all on the border with Zamfara State. All these camps have many cows that were stolen from other places.
Alhaji Saminu also explained, “Recently, after our people were killed, the groups launched another attack and took away 66 foreign cows that belong to one Alhaji. Another 75 were stolen from some other farm apart from the 96 cows they took from one Fulani man. Go to Kwadaga you will see them moving in the day time with their guns and have become untouchables”.
He said that they also have their informers and that would explain why the last incidence went without any police presence even after two months.
“We don’t have any policemen except the military that just came recently.”
Sabo Me Waya is the Chairman of the vigilante group. He told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY that the incident is “a very long story, but all the same, we started our vigilante work because there are some people here that joined hands with some bad eggs here to steal motor-cycles and other essentials. We started to keep surveillance on them, but they over powered us and even came and killed our people here. Since then, some of the Fulani people we know have refused to come back here because of the killings.”
He went on to say that they had their suspects, convinced that they were the same people that killed the late Makama, former District Head who had given instructions for their arrest before his death.
“We arrested them and took them to Birnin-Gwari and the DPO took them to Kaduna, but they came back. Then our people realised that since this syndicate always returns whenever they are arrested, we decided that whoever is arrested for robbery should be dealt with.”
Narrating the late Makama’s experience with the robbers, Waya said, the former District Head had seen two people on a bike looking very suspicious. He tried to move closer using his torch light to see their faces, they immediately started shooting him but he was able to escape being killed that night.
“We followed them to one village and we later found out that one of them was well known to us, we arrested him. Most of them stopped coming here since then. But we started hearing rumours that they will come and kill us.”
LEADERSHIP SUNDAY investigation further reveals that the series of reprisal attacks on the community stemmed from the very first time the community decided to take the law into their hands. Also the investigation shows that one of the camps being used as hideout by the armed robbers is not far from the on-going road projects at Konar Makarfi and Rafin Zaki. These are the most dangerous points along the road from Rigachikun to Dogon Dawa town where the people are constantly robbed at gun point.
Other flash points include Sofa, Hayin Damari, Gaban Kare all in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Dogon Dawa is about 60 kilometres from Rigachikun.
Although some sources named those they claimed to be the arrow-heads of the suspected notorious gangsters operating in those areas, our correspondent made effort to reach one of the camps but was forced to abort the trip by some suspicious looking herdsmen at Rafin Zaki. And a text message to the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Aminu Lawan to ascertain the arrest of any suspect has been arrested in relation to the killings in Dogon Dawa was not replied either.
This is calling on Federal government as a matter of urgency, to take action and secure that community before another attack claims the lives of more innocent souls.
Leadership
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