Bomba Dauda
Agwatyap, His Royal Highness, Sir Dominic Gambo Yahaya, said,
Atyap land is under siege by armed bandits/herdsmen militias. This statement is contained in a press statement he issued in Kaduna on Monday, which was necessitated by the recent spate of attacks across many communities in his chiefdom.
It will recalled that, On Saturday, 11th September unknown gunmen struck again killing Reverend Silas Ali within the vicinity of Zango Urban settlement in Atyap Chiefdom of Zangon-Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
And the following day, Sunday 12th September, suspected herdsmen invaded the community of Apyiah Ajiim, few hundred metres from the spot of Saturday’s attack, killing 12 people, in another round of recurring attacks on the Atyap community. The victims included: six women (two heavily pregnant), three men and three children.
This occurred after the communities of Gora Gida, Wawa Rafi, Warkan, Manyie-Aywie, Ahtak- Kanai, Magata, Magauri, Matyei, Abuyab, Magamia, Makarau, Mayayit, Manchong, Ma’door and a host of other communities were serially attacked, where no fewer than 50 villagers were massacred, 254 homes and 7 churches burnt in an unrestrained violence unleashed on poor, defenceless, innocent farmers of Atyap land.
“I find these recurring attacks most distressful and disturbing,” the Paramount Ruler added. Adding that, “as the alleged killers who are known to have lived among the communities, when they set out to maim and kill, will always called the victims out by their names, to notify them of their mission to kill before committing the dastardly acts on the helpless farmers.
“It has reached a sorry state that no farmer can venture out to the farmland, as the chances of returning home alive are very slim. This no doubt gives cause for alarm, as the resultant effect of these actions will give rise to hunger in the land, since there would be no crops to harvest.
“At this juncture, it bears no exaggeration to say here that the Atyap land is under siege by armed bandits/herdsmen militias.
“These killings are condemnable to say the least. I therefore call for a complete cessation of these dastardly acts in Atyap Chiefdom and anywhere else in the country.
“I have kept faith with the peace efforts embarked on by all the communities in the chiefdom, aimed at enthroning sustainable peace in the land by consistently restraining the youth from taking the laws into their hands in any form of reactions or reprisal, else, the situation could have escalated beyond control.
“But these recurring killings have reached an extreme height of provocation almost beyond control, as these have led many well meaning people within and outside the chiefdom to rightly question the rationale of the peace process which we have laboured assiduously to sustain for the restoration of enduring peace to the chiefdom. Perhaps, this would necessitated a change of approach.
“I wish to passionately appeal to the State and Federal Governments to come to aid of these homeless peasants whom, not fewer than 15,000 of them are now in lnternally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camps, by providing succour particularly in the area of building materials to enable them re-erect structures to return to their communities.
“I therefore, call on security agents to adopt extreme measures towards containing these unwarranted and unprovoked orgy of killings.
“I sympathize with family members and relations who have lost loved ones in these attacks, and pray Almighty God to grant the decease eternal rest, and console the bereaved families.”
