By; AMOS TAUNA, Kaduna
The Coalition of Pastoralists Association has said that 47 of its members were killed and 62 others with various degrees of injuries during the accidental airstrikes by the Nigerian Air Force in Nasarawa State.
The coalition recalled that last year, soldiers killed their members in Kaduna State, lamenting that the military carried out similar airstrikes on herders in Keana and Awe In Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
The National President of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Baba Ngelzarma; Vice President, Tabbital Pulaaku International Nigeria Chapter, Auwal Googa; Secretary, Farmers and Hunters Initiative for Peace and Development, Musa Usman among others, while addressing newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday on behalf of the coalition, stated that the military, federal, and Benue State governments failed to commiserate with the family of the deceased a week after the ill-fated incident.
The coalition observed that apart from the most recent bombardment of Tuesday, January 24, 2023, in Akwanaja, there were similar airstrikes on innocent herders in Keana and Awe In Doma LGAs of Nasarawa State.
It explained, “The recent airstrikes at Akwanaja village of Rukubi Ward, Doma LGA of Nasarawa have killed at least 32 Fulani herders, 15 Hausa drivers, and truck boys while offloading cattle. Another 62 sustained various degrees of injuries, some life-threatening. Before the incident, the Benue State Livestock Guards had raided and confiscated 1,254 cows at Rukubi, Nasarawa-Benue border communities in Doma LGA of the state.”
According to the coalition, the guards insisted that the herders should pay hefty penalties running to millions of Naira, saying that a negotiated ransom of N27,000,000 was agreed between the Fulani owners of the confiscated cattle and the Benue State government.
It further explained that the herders obtained a loan from commercial banks, stressing that apart from this, on December 3, 2022, soldiers killed innocent pastoralists in Rugan Waziri, at Rafin Sarkin Fatika village.
The coalition said that one week after the tragedy, neither the Federal Government, military nor the Benue State government considered it necessary to offer a word of explanation or consolation, pointing out that on behalf of the victims of the affected bombardments, demand the immediate admittance of responsibility by the Nigerian military, unreserved apology, and condolences to the families of the deceased pastoralists.
