Since January, militants from Fulani communities have been killing Christians in southern Kaduna. These attackers not only kill villagers but also burn villagers’ houses and destroy their farm crops.
“They normally come at night or ambush our people when going to farm,” said Habila Sambo, a local from the Adan community in Kagoro who survived a gunshot wound in a recent attack. Sambo was still in pain when ICC visited him at the hospital where he is currently receiving treatment. He said it would be difficult for him to farm again with his injuries but that he would like to go back and stay at his original home. “I know [militant] Fulani are killing us because of our faith in Jesus, but we will continue to forgive them for Christ’s sake” he said.
A local ICC contact and two volunteers visited Tsonje community where Fulani militants killed four people and burnt all the houses. Though only few men were in the village during ICC’s visit, the Fulani staged another attack. ICC’s local contact and the volunteers escaped the attack, but still the community was scared and the children of the village were traumatized.
“The Fulani militants are coming again. No soldiers in the community,” a community leader told ICC. “We have no place to sleep and no food to eat right now because all our food was burnt by the Fulani militants.” He said they have lost hope in the government and are sure the government will not help “because we are Christians,” he added
“I lost my wife and two children during the most recent attack,” one senior citizen from Maraban told ICC. The community is close to a military checking point and the militants killed two Christian soldiers.
ICC visited one of the camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Zonkwa where, ICC was informed, there are about six hundred IDPS. “There are currently sixy-seven infant males and ninety-four infant females for a total of 161 infants. There are one hundred and sixteen boys and one hundred seventy-nine girls for a total of 295 children. There are sixty-two adult males and one hundred and seventeen adult females. Of the aged there are eleven men and fifty-two women for a total of 63,” at the IDP camp, ICC was told.
Some of the women at the IDP camp told ICC that they wish to go back to their villages, but that is not possible now because Fulani have occupied their village in Zangon Kataf. Zangon Kataf has experienced years of violence at the hands of militants and just as many years of neglect from the Kaduna State and federal governments. “We can’t school our children and the food at the IDP camp not enough” a widow at the camp told ICC.