The Internally Displaced camps in Jos local government, Plateau State is currently overflowing with refugees. One of the residents shared his story on how he actually got to be there.
Iliya Gwap is a 57 year old farmer who was displaced by Fulani herdsmen in Plateau state. Iliya witnessed the death of people by these herdsmen while running for his life. This is his story, as he recounted to Saturday Sun:
"We were in a church for the burial of an elderly man when the news came that a woman had been killed at Gindi-Akwati and another, a relative of the deceased, attacked and killed at Kura Falls. We hurriedly carried out the corpse from the church to the grave site and buried it. As we were returning home, we noticed that Fulanis were evacuating their children and women using motorcycles to a safe place, while those who have returned changed their clothes to black. I noticed this because we live almost in the same village and we were very close with them. Suddenly, I saw a group of Fulani numbering 30 persons gathered in one house. A few minutes later, I saw a different group of 27 going into a different house all dressed in black cloth. I immediately alerted the security operatives about the convergence and we were advised to be on alert and to also inform neighbouring villages about the gathering, which we did. We asked the five police officers on the ground to assist us by requesting for more military officers.
“Seven military men came in a vehicle and the police explained to them about the gathering of the Fulani. The military men came from their vehicle and walked around without going close to the Fulani gathering and a few minutes later boarded their vehicle and left for Kakuru. When the Fulani noticed that the military had gone, seven of them came out with weapons and started shooting. We ran to the five policemen who told us their weapon was no match for the Fulani’s and that they too were running for their lives. We followed them and later met the military officers along the way who told us that Kakuru is also not safe and that houses were seen burning in the community. They took us to Kura Falls where the military was camped. We slept at the military camp that night. The following morning, we started searching for those that were missing. Some people were killed and the entire village burnt down. We joined the vehicle conveying the corpses to the mortuary and made it to the IDPs Camp.”
“I went to the village after the attack. There was no house standing. They set the entire buildings on fire. Our properties were not spared. They took away some of the properties and burnt the houses. My goat was also taken away.”
The amount of havoc the Fulani herdsmen have caused cannot be overemphasised but, aside from brooding on the this what are You actually doing to help?
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