Violence Breaks Out In Abuja Community As Farmers, Herders Clash Over Grazing Routes, Several Injured
Fresh violence broke out on Sunday evening in the Katse community, under Paikon Kore in the Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), following a clash between farmers and herders.
Although no life was lost in the incident, residents told SaharaReporters that several persons sustained serious injuries during the confrontation.
The crisis, which reportedly escalated over grazing routes and the destruction of farmlands, threw the quiet community into tension as both groups engaged in a violent face-off.
“This is exactly the same thing that happened recently in Gurfata. People were badly injured, even though no one died. The herders keep entering farms, and the farmers resist, then everything turns violent,” a resident said.
SaharaReporters in July reported how two persons were killed following a violent clash between farmers and suspected herders in the Gwagwalada Area Council of the FCT.
The two individuals killed were identified as Dahiru Yakubu and Musa Yaestu, the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) commander in Gurfata.
Sources told SaharaReporters that the incident occurred after cows strayed into a farm and began eating crops, leading to a confrontation between the farmers and a herder boy.
The situation reportedly escalated after the farmers attacked the herder boy on the spot.
“What really happened was that the farmers were on the farm when they saw cows entering their farmland and eating their crops. Immediately, they stood up and started beating the Fulani herder boy. They beat him to the extent that they broke his head,” a source said.
“So the younger brother of the Fulani boy who was beaten ran home and called their elder brother immediately. When their brother came, he overpowered one of the farmers and butchered him.”
SaharaReporters gathered that the confrontation quickly turned deadly, during which a second victim, Yaestu — a member of the Vigilante Group — was also killed.
