Fulani herdsmen kill SARS officers who tried to settle fight

ayodele johnson

June 7, 2018 10:16 AM

Fulani herders ambushed and killed SARS operatives who were deployed to calm the tension in a Nasarawa community.

Three officers of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) have been killed by

According to Punch News, the security operatives were slaughtered on Sunday, June 3, 2018, in an ambush organized by the herders who also attacked residents in Aisa and Aguma.

Eight farmers were also killed by the Fulani pastoralists Punch reports.

ASP Ismaila Usman, a spokesperson for the state police gave a statement concerning the development on Tuesday, June 5, 2018, in Lafia.

“There was a conflict between the Agatus and Fulani herdsmen when an Agatu man shot a Fulani man on the foot and went away with his Bajaj motorcycle.

“As the Fulani went on a reprisal, the attention of the police was drawn and we quickly swung into action to ensure that normalcy returned to the area, but unfortunately, our operatives were ambushed and three of them were killed," says the police rep.

Alhaji Ahmed Kwanaki, a paramount ruler in the Agatu chiefdom is not pleased with the killings in his backyard as reported by Punch News.

He called on the state and federal governments to intervene in the matter.

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The Agatu Massacres

In February 2016, over 500 people were killed when an unconfirmed number of Fulani herdsmen attacked residents in Agatu, Benue State, in retaliation for the killing of their cows.

This is according to the former Senate President David Mark. A report by Punch News however contradicted this number.

Solomon Arase, the Inspector General of Police at the time had contested that the number did not add up in his statement quoted by Punch ”I was around, I travelled to Benue State, I did not see where 300 people were buried.”

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It is however unfit for debate the need for an urgent response to the growing tension surrounding the indiscriminate cattle grazing on private farmlands.

Nigerian citizens who have challenged an unsolicited visit by the herders to their farms have been reportedly killed - a factor that has added to the country's security issues.

ayodele johnson