About 20 persons were feared dead when suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked Godogodo, a community in Jema’a local council of southern Kaduna State at the weekend.
About 20 persons were feared dead when suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked Godogodo, a community in Jema’a local council of southern Kaduna State at the weekend.
A 24-hour curfew had been declared in the affected area.
The armed herdsmen reportedly attacked Godogodo, a semi-urban on Saturday night.
Police officers and others who escaped the attack said about 20 people were killed and unconfirmed number of residents of the community sustained injuries.
The Interim Management Committee, (IMC) Chairman of Jema’a council, Dr. Humble Katuka, yesterday announced a 24-hour curfew in the area.
Godogodo had witnessed several attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen, which forced many of residents to vacate the area since July this year.
According to a community leader in Godogodo who pleaded anonymity, last Saturday, around 6:00p.m, we heard gunshots from around Anguwan Ninzon area. As people were running, women and children screaming. I saw Fulani men carrying heavy guns and just shooting at people. Some houses were set on fire with people inside. If I tell you I know how I managed to escape, I will say I’m lying. I just followed some old men and we ran through a bush path with shooting going on all over the town. Some were shot, but many of us escaped.
“My family had left Godogodo since September. I just came back alone to harvest my crops and leave. Then I met this evil. Today, we have recovered about 20 corpses from around the town. But there are still more burnt inside homes that cannot be reached, because the Fulani are still inside the town.
“At interval you will hear them shooting to let everyone know that they are still around. The town is still burning and people are still trapped there or burnt,” he said.
The State Police Spokesman, ASP Aliyu Usman, while confirming the incident said two policemen were killed in an earlier attack near Gogogodo last Friday, adding that a police post was also attacked in the area before the latest incident in the town on Saturday evening.
He said the State Police Commissioner had deployed more units of mobile and conventional policemen to the place for re-enforcement.
