Fulani mercenaries kill 15, set houses ablaze in Nasarawa

AGAIN, some Fulani mercenaries, on Wednesday morning, besieged another Eggon settlement in Lafia East Development Area of Nasarawa State and killed 15 people.
Eyewitnesses told the Nigerian Tribune in Lafia, the state capital, that the Fulani mercenaries, who invaded Gidan-Mai-Akuya rural community around 10.00 a.m., started shooting at sight and set many houses ablaze.
It was gathered further that the whole community had been deserted, as villagers are now taking refuge at public schools and with relatives in the state capital.

One of the eyewitnesses, Mr Pila Kyia, told the Nigerian Tribune on phone that immediate response of the security operatives prevented the assailants in wreaking more havoc on the villagers.
According to him, soldiers drafted to the area had earlier given the villagers their phone numbers to contact them in case of any attack by the Fulani, who had, so far, ransacked over seven villages in the space of two weeks.

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Kyia said the armoured personnel carrier (APC) used by the soldiers got trapped while chasing the attackers out of the community, a development that rendered them incapacitated in containing the attack.
“The Fulani attacked us and started shooting sporadically. People scampered for safety before soldiers arrived.
“As I am trekking towards Akurba town towards Lafia now, I saw 10 corpses and a corpse of one Fulani man by the roadside,” he added.
As a result of the violence, commuters were stopped from plying the route, to allow the security agencies to contain the attack.
When contacted on phone for confirmation, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ismaila Numan, said six persons were killed, while two houses were razed.
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