Nigeria: Entire family murdered in village attack

A family of seven was murdered when armed Fulani tribesmen attacked a village in southern Kaduna State on 30 January.

According to reports received by Christian Solidarity Worldwide-Nigeria (CSW-N), Manyekrun Village in the Sabon Garin Manchok District of Kaura Local Government Area (LGA) was attacked at around 11pm last night. The assailants murdered Mr Abin Kaawai, his wife Ruth Abin, and their children, Indip, Emma, Cletus, Bitrus and Dauda. CSW-N also reported that the area is extremely tense following the murders, as angry young men set fire to the homes of some local Fulanis.

Attacks by armed Fulanis on villages in Kaura LGA, which have been have been ongoing since 2011, appear to have increased in frequency and intensity. During 2013, at least 19 people were killed, an unknown number were injured and an estimated 4000 displaced when armed Fulanis attacked Mafang and Zilang villages over the Easter weekend. Nine villages were attacked and around fourteen people were killed in the Telak District of Kaura LGA on 13 September. Then on 27 September, fourteen people were killed during attacks on Tsokong and Zagwong villages in the Zangang District. The increasingly sophisticated weaponry and coordination employed by the assailants, and the fact that both churches and schools were destroyed during attacks in September 2013, have given rise to speculation of the increasing involvement in these attacks of Boko Haram elements.

Kaura LGA borders Plateau State and is in relatively close proximity to Riyom, Bokkos and Birkin Ladi LGAs, where night attacks on non-Muslim villages have occurred regularly since 2010. This year, two people were killed and sixteen severely injured when gunmen stormed a New Years Eve service at a Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) church in Maikatako village in Bokkos LGA. On 6 January, 33 people were killed, several were injured, around 40 houses were burned down, and livestock was either slaughtered or looted during an armed attack on Shonong Village in the Bachit District of Bokkos LGA. The assailants struck the village in the morning, after most men had gone to the fields. Consequently, most of the casualties were elderly, female or minors.

CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the relatives and friends of Mr Abin Kaawai and his family, and with the people of Shonong and other areas that have suffered attacks. It is deeply concerning that the perpetrators are still able to operate with relative impunity in this geographical location. Worse still, this long-term absence of security and justice is now engendering reprisal attacks, adding to a general sense of lawlessness. We urge the security services to formulate arrangements that will ensure the protection of remote communities. Given the geographical proximity of these targeted areas, any new security arrangements must include a comprehensive and unified strategy encompassing Kaduna and Plateau States and parts of southern Bauchi State, if this is not in place already.”

For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Kiri Kankhwende, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332 9663 or email kiri@csw.org.uk.