Five feared killed in Adamawa as herdsmen battle farmers

Several families were also displaced.

At least five people were feared killed and about hundreds of families displaced in clashes between farmers and cattle grazers in Mboi, a village in Song Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

A resident of the village, Bitrus Daniel, said that the clash followed a disagreement between the farmers and grazers when the former accused the herdsmen of willingly allowing their herds to destroy crops that were not yet harvested.

According to him, after a little fisticuff between the two sides, the herdsmen regrouped in the night and launched an attack on the village where hundreds of houses were destroyed while domestic animals and foodstuff worth millions of Naira were also vandalized.

Another resident of the village, Bello Audu, who said they were taken unawares by the attack called on the government to increase security surveillance in the area as they are susceptible to further attacks by the herdsmen.

“We call on the Adamawa state government to intensify security in this area as we have lost sense of safety as we believed that the herdsmen are still lurking around the villages and may yet launch another attack on us. Reports have shown that some unidentified armed men were seen in the nearby bushes,” Mr. Audu said.

Mr. Audu expressed dismay that the herdsmen were not disarmed despite the emergency rule in the state. He called on the military authorities to deploy officers into the hinterland as many villages in the area were facing great danger.

“I call on the military authorities to focus their attention to the rural communities as we are at the mercies of armed men especially the herdsmen who killed with savageness at the slightest disagreement,” he said.

The Public Relations officer of the Adamawa State Police Command, Mohammed Ibrahim, when contacted, confirmed the incident but could not provide further details. He said the security of the state is being manned by the military because the state was under emergency rule.

Efforts to contact the military in Adamawa were unsuccessful. The Army spokesperson in Adamawa, Nuhu Jafaru, could not be reached on the phone, while his military colleagues, not authorised to speak to the press said he had travelled to Lagos for an official engagement.

Adamawa, like Borno and Yobe, has been under emergency rule since May as soldiers try to dislodge insurgents in the states.