Thank you to everyone who has signed this petition! For those of you who have not yet, please make sure to share the petition with at least 1 other person so that word continues to get out of the people's plight in southern Kaduna. Please see below a detailed report of a recent attack by the Fulani herdsmen. The region is currently under a 24hr curfew but attacks still occur with no intervention from the police or government! The curfew has made it easier for the herdsmen to carry out their attacks as no one is allowed to leave their homes. More details below.
UPDATE
On Wednesday night (5th August 2020), 33 southern Kaduna natives, who were among hundreds of thousands of already starving indigenes living under a 24 hours curfew rigidly imposed for the last 65 days, were killed in five villages in the Zangon Kataf Local Government Area (LGA) by Fulani militia.
The villages affected are: Apiashyim, Kibori, Apiako, Atakmawei and Magamiya. Prior to now, the villages were all shutdown with armed military men patrolling and enforcing the 24 hours curfew. But when the gunmen struck in the night, the military were no where to be seen.
On Wednesday evening (5th Aug), around 11pm, truck loads of armed Fulani militia made their way through military check points under the curfew and stormed Apiashyim and Kibori villages. They lay siege to Apyaishyim killing, looting and burning houses. In the wake of the cruelty, they left six people dead, and 20 houses burnt.
In the nearby Kibori village, 7 people were killed by the Fulani militia.
Around 12am, they struck Atakmawei sleeping community and carried out another attack after which 12 people were killed and ten houses burnt.
They also went to Apyiako and killed 3 people, and burnt down several homes. At the same time, Magamiya village was also attacked and 5 people were killed and seven houses burnt. The attacks occured continually with no resistance from the militarty or police between 11pm and 4am.
According to survivors, the attackers included Fulani youths who had been born and raised in the villages they were now attacking.
They would come to a compound and shout out the names of the occupants challenging them to come out and face them. In Apiako, scared villagers who hid under grown maize crops said they saw what looked like an armored military vehicle pull up to the village square followed by a convoy of motorbikes while the Fulani herdsmen were attacking, but no attempt was made by the military to stop them.
The overwhelming sentiment among the southern Kaduna people under attack is that Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna state has tied up law abiding people under an irrational and protracted curfew which is obviously intended to cause maximum harm to their communities. There are increasingly desparate cries for food, medicine and financial aid since the people can no longer go to their farms to provide for themselves. Cases of child malnutrition are rising as parents cannot go out and look for food for their starving children. The sick are trapped at home. No one wants to risk the brutality of the military that are enforcing the curfew. However, even if the curfew was to be lifted today help would still be needed because of the damage that has been done. Cattle herded by armed Fulani men have eaten up and trampled over thousands of hectares of grain farms, yam farms, sugar cane crops and many others. The prospect of hunger and increased poverty in communities in southern Kaduna is very real for this year and the next.
Please sign this petition and share, share, share! If enough people speak up and take a stand against these atrocities, things can and will change!