Lawmaker raises alarm as herdsmen kill 3 in Niger attack

Herdsmen have attacked three communities in Shiroro Local Government area of Niger State killing three people leaving several others critically injured on Christmas Eve.

In all, over 1,000 cattle and a number of sheep were rustled away by the herdsmen after holding the communities hostage for several hours.

The affected communities are Kaure, Ajatan and Kwaki, all in Shiroro local government area of the state.

This attack came barely two weeks after some communities within the area, Baga, Alawa, Tunga-Sakai, Laye and Dnakau came under heavy attack from about 50 armed bandits suspected to be Fulani Herdsmen which left four people dead.

The Senator representing Niger East Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator David Umaru has raised alarm over the continued attack on some communities in the state by armed men suspected to be Fulani Herdsmen.

He has called on the state government and security agencies to address the situation before it gets out of hand.

Addressing newsmen in Minna on Monday, Umaru said that the incessant attacks on these communities has claimed many lives and rendered many people homeless pointing on the need for the government must act fast before the entire communities is wipe out.

“The government, especially at the state level must wake up because the security of the lives of the people is its exclusive responsibility. A responsible government should not fold its arms and watch people being killed on a daily bases, the people are left on their own.

“I have being following the development but I’m very handicap in the sense that the issue of security is in the hand of the state government. This development has greatly impoverished the people because their cattle and farm produce are being stolen by these herdsmen.

“The truth of the matter is that the government needs to do something and very fast because the people are being killed, they are not secured and therefore some of them are beginning to relocate from their ancestral homes and farm land”.

He expressed regret that despite all these attacks and the killing of the people, the government has not said anything, wondering whether the people are not part of the society and does not have right of protection.

By Isa Lapai, Minna