12-year-old herder killed in Plateau fresh attack

Isa Abubakar, a 12-year-old herder, was on Friday evening killed in kitago community of Miango district of Bassa local government area of Plateau state.

The state chairman of Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria (GAFDAN), Garba Abdullahi, who confirmed the incident to The Nation on Saturday, explained that the victim was killed while he was rearing cattle after his elder brother left him to get food for them from home.

The GAFDAN chairman said the corpse of the victim was recovered on Saturday morning, hidden under Banana plantation in the area, calling on the security to investigate the incident before it escalated.

He said “We are peace-loving people but our members are being killed by the day. We don’t know our offence. We are witnessing isolated killing. Security agencies should rise up to the occasion and put a stop to it. We are still hoping that security agencies will do the needful and get the perpetrators arrested.

The Chairman accused the Irigwe community of being responsible for killing their member, an accusation that was denied by the Irigwe community, saying it was too quick for the Fulani community to accuse them even before the conclusion of the investigation.

The immediate past state Publicity Secretary of Irigwe Development Association (IDA), Malison Davidson, who denied the allegation, called on the security agencies to investigate the matter and bring the perpetrators to book, regardless of the tribe.

According to him, “We woke up to hear the story of the killing of the Fulani herder. We condemned the act in its entirety. We also refuted the claim by the Fulani that the act was carried out by members of our group. The security agencies should be allowed to carry out investigation on the matter. It is not in our character to carry this kind of dastardly act.”

When contacted the spokesperson of Operation Safe Haven, in charge of Plateau, Bauchi and part of Kaduna,maintaining peace in the area, Major Samson Zhakom, regarding the development, was yet to respond to the inquiry at the time of filing this report.