Barely hours after gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen attacked Etogi community in Mokwa Local Government Area, Niger State, leading to the loss of 21 lives, another five people have been killed when hostilities broke out between some Fulani youths and natives in Tugan-Malam, Paikoro Local Government Area of Niger State.
While the Etogi killing in Mokwa council was caused by betrayal of trust over land, the killing of five persons in Paikoro, our correspondent gathered, was over disagreements between Gbagyi and Fulani youths at a drinking joint Sunday evening, May 14, 2017.
Fulani herders, who had maintained a settlement near Gbara community, failed in the agreement over a piece of land to farm on the agreement that certain percentage of the proceeds would go to the village head but the herdsmen were said to have reneged on the pact and thus marked the beginning of the hostilities between the two.
While the people were said to have demanded to have their land because the Fulanis had reneged on the agreement, the Fulani herdsmen instead refused to budge but instead claimed that the land in question belongs to them, a development that further infuriated Gbara people.
The hostilities that broke out later snowballed into fight, which led to the death of a Fulani man and in retaliation, the Fulani herdsmen were said to have mobilized support from their kinsmen elsewhere and launched an attack on the community mosque when Muslims were observing their early morning prayers.
In Paikoro, a Fulani man was said to have stabbed one of the natives during arguments at a drinking joint. This, according to findings, prompted other Gbagyi people at the joint to retaliate and in the process four Fulani youths were killed.
Our correspondent also learnt that the native who was stabbed by a Fulani youth, which triggered the killings also later died at a private clinic where he was rushed for medical attention thereby bringing the casualty figure to five.
Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Niger State Police Command, DSP Bala Elkana, who confirmed hostilities between, the Fulani and Nupe people in Mokwa and Fulani and Gbagyi in Paikoro said that the situation in the two areas was under control.
While the Mokwa killing was caused by betrayal of trust between Fulani community and the locals over a piece of farm land, the Paikoro hostility was caused over argument at a drinking joint when a Fulani youth stabbed one of the locals, the PPRO said.
“As at this morning (Monday) four people were confirmed dead, I am not aware if anyone died in the hospital”, the PPRO said, adding that three people had been arrested by men of the command in connection with the disturbance that led to the loss of lives in Paikoro.
The PPRO also hinted that three people had been arrested in connection with the killing of 21 people in Mokwa, adding however that “Detachments of mobile policemen had been drafted to the troubled areas to forestall further bloodshed”.
