The Atakar Community Development
Association in Zandang area of Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State said
the renewed hostilities in the area had so far claimed 100 lives.
The attack last Saturday had claimed
over 15 lives rendered many villagers homeless after their houses were burnt by
their attackers.
The police in the state, however,
said 11 persons lost their lives in the attack carried out by some
unknown gunmen.
The Police Public Relations Officer,
Aminu Lawan, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP, who confirmed the
incident had said, “It is true that Zankang was attacked this morning. The
number of those killed are 11. Our men are already there. You know that place
is hilly and bushy. But they are combing the hills, and we expect them to come
out with some results.”
However, the national President of
the ACDA, Ishaya Samaila, while addressing a press conference on
Wednesday at Fadan Attakar, said the death toll had risen from 15 to 100.
He noted that 500 houses were
destroyed and over 10,000 residents displaced.
Samaila said property,
including foodstuffs and other household items worth N500m were
destroyed.
Also, the paramount ruler of
the Attakar Chiefdom, Chief Tobias Nkom-Wada, expressed concern over the
inability of both the National and state Assembly members from the area to draw
the attention of the Federal Government to the plight of the Attakar
people.
He said, “We are not impressed with
our representatives at the state and the national assemblies. We acknowledge
their private donations but our displaced persons cannot continue feeding on
such gestures alone. We expect them to raise a serious motion calling on
relevant authorities to intervene so that, we can have permanent security and
sustainable way of feeding our displaced persons.”
Samaila, while narrating the
ordeals of the people, noted that in March alone, over 32 people were
killed “while 247 houses were burnt, including four churches and two schools
and personal items worth about N150m were destroyed in that attack.”
He added that the last Saturday attack
that left over 15 people dead were planned in such a way to eliminate the
entire residents of the area.
“The mode of the attacks was made in
such a way as to completely eliminate the villages as children and women were
not spared. The attacks seems to be directed at taking over our lands,” he
said.
He said despite the attacks, the
Attakar people had remained peaceful and law abiding and still allow Fulani
herdsmen to freely graze their cattle.
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Politics