I often ask them (cattle herdsmen) to stop invading our school for grazing and stop cutting down our trees to feed their cows
Rev Fr. Cornelius kobah, a Catholic priest with the Sacred Heart Minor Seminary, Jauro Yuno, in Jalingo, was targeted and attacked on Monday 21 May, in Jalingo, Taraba State, where Islamist Fulani cattle herdsmen have killed dozens of people and destroyed villages since the beginning of the year.
Narrating what happened to reporters, Rev Fr. Kobah said he was attacked because “I often ask them (cattle herdsmen) to stop invading our school for grazing and stop cutting down our trees to feed their cows.”
Another Priest, Fr. Stephen Bakari, was beaten up during the attack, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Atsue, the school’s Rector said.
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The herdsmen had insisted on grazing their cattle “inside the Seminary; around the classes, football field, laundry… They said even inside the church if they see grass their cows will graze.” Bakari said in a press release.
Rev Fr. Koba who escaped with a gunshot wound on the leg said the attackers headed only to his room “around 1: 00 am and got a student whom they ordered to take them to my room. I came out and met them all armed numbering over five. As soon I came out, one of them said see him, kill him but one of them objected. They struck me with their sticks and when I fell down, one of them shot me in the leg and they left,” Koba said.
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“They also shot and shattered the windscreen of my car. One of them opened fire on my window and destroyed my television set and other properties.” Koba added.
The attack on the priest comes less than a week after the mass burial of two Catholic Priests and 17 others in Benue State killed by Islamist cattle herdsmen.
