Niger clashes: Miyetti Allah calls for urgent intervention

THE Chairman, Niger State chapter of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Social Cultural Association, Mallam Muhammad Abubakar Tukur, has appealed to the state government to urgently intervene in the continued clashes between the Fulani herdsmen and Gbagyi farmers.

Tukur made the appeal  over the weekend  in an interaction with newsmen in Minna, the state capital, adding  that this call became imperative following  the  incessant  clashes between the two ethnic groups which  had resulted into loss of several  lives on both sides and destruction of properties estimated at several millions of naira.

He confirmed that 14 Fulani herdsmen had been killed in the recent clashes between the Fulanis and the Gbagyis, expressing regrets   that the two ethnic groups which had been living together for ages in a peaceful atmosphere could engage in the recent clashes that claimed lives.

He therefore called on the state government to quickly call on the leaders from both warring groups for a discussion with the view to settling the matter amicably in order to allow peace to reign in various communities of the state.

Tukur pointed out that both Gbagyis and Fulanis shared same occupation of farming and cattle breeding, hence the need to live together harmoniously for the development and progress of all concerned by settling their differences.

The Sarkin Fulani mentioned some of the villages where such clashes had occurred and the people were killed as Gunu, Lambata, Sabon Daga, among others, adding that the issues over which people had been killed and several others injured were those that could be resolved without bloodshed.

He disclosed that some of the cattle rustlers found their ways into the state from Zamfara state, noting that the fleeing hoodlums were not known to the Fulanis who were early settlers in the respective troubled communities.