A farmer identified as Usman Baba was killed as settlements were bulldozed in a communal clash between the Fulani and Nupe in Eshijiko, Pada district of the Pategi local government area of Kwara state.
PUNCH Subway They collected that the incident that occurred on Sunday left several Fulani herders displaced from their settlements.
The confrontation also led to the destruction of agricultural crops such as corn, guinea corn and cassava, while several herders had fled the community fearing reprisals.
A source said: “The issue was between a farmer, Usman Baba, who met some herdsmen with their cows at his farm at night and ordered them to leave. The situation degenerated into some discussions that led to a confrontation between the farmer and the herders. The farmer suffered several cuts with machetes that later led to his death.
“One of the Fulanis also sustained hand and head injuries during the clash,” the source said.
Sarkin Fulani of the state’s East Ilorin Local Government Area, Idris Ali, said more than 1,000 Fulani men have been displaced following the incident.
“Our position after the report of the farmer’s murder was to allow the security agencies to do their job and bring the culprits to court. We were surprised by the latest development of taking the laws into their own hands,” he said.
For his part, one of the Fulani leaders in Kwara state, Jao Yahaya, said some 500 houses were destroyed during the fighting while hundreds of people were displaced.
“Ten blocks of classrooms from the nomadic school for our children, corn, guinea corn, yams, rice, cassava, motorcycles and several cows worth more than N50 million were lost in the incident,” he noted.
According to him, the affected settlement has existed for more than 47 years and has been living in peace with the people of its host communities without any disturbances.
He said that the Fulani are asking the state government and security agencies to urgently come to their aid as they are now suffering from homelessness and insecurity in the Area.
When contacted, the lawmaker representing Patigi in the Kwara state House of Assembly, Adam Rufai, said: “I cannot speak about the incident now as I am in the Fidau for the late House leader Magaji Olawoyin. , who died on Monday.
However, the spokesman for the Nigerian Civil Defense and Security Corps in Kwara state, Olasunkanmi Ayeni, confirmed the incident.
“After the death of the farmer, the Fulani settlements were completely bulldozed with several cows, food and property destroyed in the process by the villagers in an alleged revenge mission for the farmer’s murder.”
“We cannot determine the number of people displaced so far and we have not made any arrests because the Fulanis have escaped. But we are still monitoring the situation to ensure calm and that the problem does not escalate,” Ayeni said.
