Over a dozen people killed in fresh Kaduna attack

Authorities in Kaduna state have imposed a curfew in some communities in the state’s troubled south after at least 17 people were killed in a fresh attack there weekend.

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The incident occurred between Saturday and Sunday in Ungwan Wakili in Zango Kataf local government area, which has witnessed multiple deadly attacks in recent years.

State police spokesperson Muhammed Jalige said he could not confirm the number of those killed, according to the News Agency of Nigeria, but multiple media reports say witnesses reported 17.

Punch said its reporter who visited the area counted 14 bodies in addition to three earlier reported deaths. Channels Television quoted the chairman of Zango Kataf local government area, Francis Sani, as saying that 15 people were killed, but that two more people who sustained injuries died after.

He said many of the victims were women and children.

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Ethno-religious attacks are common in the northwest state, especially in the southern region which is dominated by farmers who are mostly Christians. Locals often blame Fulani herders, but the pastoralists have also reported attacks on their people. The government says the struggle for land and water resources is at the root of the crisis.

Police spokesperson Jalige said the latest incident started after a young herder was murdered last week.

“Before the attacks, there was something we have been managing for four days now,” the news agency NAN quoted him as saying. “One boy was killed in the bush while rearing his animals, and we have been on top of the situation before this unfortunate incident.”

But locals said, according to NAN, denied that was the cause of the latest incident.

Tribune Newspaper quoted a source as saying that trouble started when policer officers tried to stop some men on motorcycle at a checkpoint. The men resisted and both sides exchanged gunfire.

The chairman, Mr Sani, according to Channels TV, said the attackers were armed herders who invaded the community at about 9pm on Saturday and started shooting at residents. A 24-hour curfew has been imposed on Ungwan Juju, Mabuhu, Ungwan Wakili and Zangon Urban.