The killings in Sanga, a community in southern Kaduna seems endless with a recent occurrence claiming over 50 lives leaving residents wondering what government can do to put an end to the unprovoked killings by unknown gunmen, writes correspondent, BASHIR BELLO, Kaduna.
It was yet another tragic day on Tuesday, September 16, 2014 for residents of Sanga Local Government Area when they were thrown into a state of sorrow.
No less than 50 persons including soldiers, pastors, four pregnant women and children were sent to their early graves and property set ablaze by gunmen.
To the affected people, the attacks have become ceaseless with no end in sight. While Sanga community lament the regrettable incident, they are at loss because the attacks is not the first, second, neither is it the third launched on it.
A cursory look at the outrageous numbers of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs point to a whopping 10,000 presently seeking refuge in Numana.
The IDP remain in refugee camps for fear of being attacked again as friends and relatives who dared to go back, have been sent to their graves by the gunmen.
Mr. Moses Bala, who is presently taking refuge in one of the camps, said he lost his relatives in the attack. According to him, the attack was not the first time and indeed, it was not the second. “The last time they came to Fadan-Karshi, it was a police station they attacked and two policemen were killed alongside other civilians numbering about 20.
“Government should have taken drastic measures to keep the community safe since this was not the first time. See the military checkpoint here, the people came and attack the village, which is about 3km from them. They killed our parents, children and destroyed our property,” Mr. Bala said.
Another resident, Pastor Isaiah Abijenison, said, “Precisely on Tuesday evening around 12:00 p.m., we heard gunshots and we thought they were security men deployed to the area. But we later discovered they were the Fulani people who stormed the village and started shooting sporadically and in the process, the community tried to repel the attack by also shooting their guns. For the two hours the struggle lasted, no security man came to our rescue.
“Believe me, we cannot trace the root cause of the attacks on these communities. What we know is that they are Fulani people and they came into the community to kill and to destroy.”
Angered by the spate of the killings, youths and half naked women protested and attacked the convoy of Governor Ramalan Yero, who was in the area with members of the State Security Council, Speaker of the State Assembly and the Senator representing Kaduna South, Senator Nenadi Usman.
They were there to carry out an on the spot assessment of the incident. However, people of the area perceived the governor’s visit as having political undertone.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Sanga Local Government Area, Rev. Father Andrew Anana, has claimed that over 300 lives have been lost to the series of attacks in the area. He also alleged that pregnant women, the aged, clergymen, church property were the sole targets of the attacks.
Rev. Anana narrated how two pastors, their families and other members were burnt.
According to him, “a pastor in Karshi Daji with Redeem Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Dauda Osiha, was burnt down along with his wife and children in his living room. The other pastor is with the ECWA church, in Dogon Daji.
“The attacks were carried out in the night. The one in Angwan Ganye involving the ECWA pastor happened around 8:00 p.m. he was attacked and his house was set on fire.
“The same thing with the second pastor in Karshin Daji, who was set ablaze along with his family in his living room,” he narrated.
Still speaking he said, “The persons came with sophisticated weapons, normally they enter into the village and will start shooting sporadically to scare people away. By the time they shoot, people will be scared and will run to save their lives. If you are caught running outside, you will be gunned down and if you decide to remain indoors or maybe they came after you and they could not penetrate through your door, they set your house on fire. So in the case of the pastors, they were in their living room and were burnt.
“In the case of the pastors since they are not indigenes, they were taken to their various hometowns or state of origins for burial,” he said.
When asked the number of the displaced person as a result of the attack, Rev. Anana said, “Yes, the nature of the settlement in Sanga, in most cases are related. Normally, this is not the first attack and like in the previous attacks when it happens, people will run to the police station in Gwantu while some will run to churches but after some days, the real indigenes will now come back and stay with their brothers and sisters whose houses were not attacked.
But like in Fadan Karshi and Gwantu, most of them are not indigenes, so they fled to neighbouring towns to camp there. Take for instance, the business people ran to Akwanga, some to Kafanchan, Gidan Waya and even to Abuja. You cannot get the exact figure immediately but they run to neighbouring towns.
“The situation is relatively peaceful and calm even though people are living in fear. In Fadan Karshi for instance, there is nobody, you will only find few youths who are guarding the town but the town is practically empty. Many villagers have to run to Gwantu or neighbouring towns around Sanga to camp at night and go to farm in the afternoon. Because they are predominantly farmers, they cannot actually stay without farming,” he said.
When asked what measure he thinks should be put in place to curtail the level of insecurity and killings in Sanga area, Rev. Anana said, “As for me, the best solution since the issue of negotiation, dialogue has not been working because since January the community and traditional rulers have been trying to dialogue with the perceived attackers, Fulani. But they practically say that they cannot forgive certain issues that have happened. So for me, the only way out is self-defence.
“I call on the Sanga people to defend themselves. Despite the fact that we have security presences around yet the attack has not stopped. Let the youths defend their land since the issue of dialogue has not worked. Government should assist our youths to be able to defend our land.
“CAN, Sanga chapter having seen the gruesome massacre suffered by Christians in the community, wishes to passionately appeal that as a matter of urgency, the governor should kindly use his good office to arrest this ugly development by ending these terrible attacks on our peace-loving and defenceless people,” he said.
On whether any arrest was made so far as regards the perpetrators of the recent attack? The CAN Chairman said, “I don’t think that there has been any arrest made because they come in the middle of the night, they carry out the attacks and run away.
“I actually heard that there was an alleged arrest of four suspects but I did not see them with my eye so I cannot authenticate that.
“Though I also heard that some of the perpetrators of the attack could not escape so they hide inside the forest and in the process of sneaking out, they were arrested in Gidan waya.
“Then the soldiers in Karshi were called to come and pick them up for interrogation. I heard that the attackers are not Nigerians but they are from Niger. It is said that they confessed that they were assisted in carrying out the attacks on the villages by some people around,” Rev. Anana said.
However, after all said and done the people of Sanga Local Government Area and Kaduna as a whole, look up to the government to do something urgently to save their lives from been terminated by these evil perpetrators.