FG Keeps Mum On Herders’ Killings In Nasarawa

The Federal Government has failed to react to the reported killings of about 40 herders in an airstrike at Rukubi village in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

Naija News recalls that at least 31 people were killed following the airstrike that hit some herders waiting to transport their cattle from the community that connects Benue to Nasarawa.

The herders were returning from Makurdi, Benue State Capital, where they had gone to retrieve over 1,000 cows seized by the Benue Livestock Guards.

Reacting to the incident sparked outrage that followed the development, the Nasarawa government said the airstrike was not carried out by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).

In an interview with Arise TV last week Wednesday, the state Governor, Abdullahi Sule, said an unidentified “drone” wrecked the attack, adding that an investigation has begun to ascertain the truth of the situation.

He said: “No Air Force plane flew through the area. The bombing was done by a drone whose operators were yet to be identified.

“It will be very difficult to arrest anyone at the moment because the whole place at that moment was in total disarray.

“The rumours earlier were that the air force carried out the bombing but right now, we understand that there was no air force plane that flew through the area.

“It was a drone that flew through the area and dropped the bomb. I have spoken with all the security agencies around and all of them claim they do not know anything about it. Nobody is claiming responsibility for the drone bombing.”

Also reacting, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) said 31 herders and an unspecified number of livestock were killed in the airstrike.

MACBAN President, Baba Othman Ngelzarma, said the herders killed went to get 1,250 of their cows impounded by the Benue livestock guards.

Ngelzarma added that the airstrike occurred after the herders retrieved their livestock.

He said: “After paying, the pastoralists had hired vehicles from Makurdi to convey back their seized livestock to Rukubi, and it was in the process of offloading their livestock that an attack was conducted which killed 31 pastoralists, eight Hausa butchers from Benue who have escorted the vehicles to upload the cows and four others are now on admission in Lafia hospital.

“This is the third time we have experienced such happenings. In the last two happenings, it was clear that the Airforce is being involved in strafing livestock between the border of Benue and Nasarawa states within the last year.

“But in the recent one, it is not clear whether it was a bomb blast, a distant attack, or an airstrike as reported by our Nasarawa state branch.”

However, as of the time of filing this report, the federal government and military authorities have remained silent on the sad incident.