About 48 people have been killed and more than 300 houses razed by gunmen suspected to be bandits in Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The gunmen were said to have carried out the coordinated attacks within one week.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday in Kaduna, Samuel Achie, President of Atyap Development Association, said the coordinated attacks which lasted for some days in about 12 villages under the Chiefdom, left at least than one thousand people displaced with several others injured.
“We need peace more than any other thing now and we are trusting God that peace is going to be restored in the land,” he said.
“We should see ourselves as brothers. A Fulani man is a brother to a Ita man, a Ita man is a brother to a Fulani man, a Hausa man is a brother to a Ita man. By the time we begin to see ourselves like that and begin to operate as brothers and sisters, no brother will want to take arms against his own brother.”
He appealed to both the government and security agencies to come to their aid and stop the carnage before the people are completely wiped out by the gunmen.
According to him, the affected communities are: Kibori, Magamiya 1 and 2, Matei, Makarau, Ungwan Rohogo, Ungwan Jaba, Abuyap, Jankasa, Ma-gata, Warkan, Kachechere.
The marauding bandits have also created a severe humanitarian crisis in the community.
The attacks have left children, women and the aged displaced, and are now taking refuge in Internally Displaced Person (IDPs) camp run by Achie.
The development forced governor Nasir El-Rufai to summon all stakeholders for a peace meeting on Friday at the Government House in Kaduna.
Speaking after the meeting, the commander of the Operation Safe Haven, Major-General Ibrahim Ali, said he had visited Zango Kataf to meet with the various representatives of the communities.
“We sat down, discussed and listened to their problems and we looked for ways of resolving the problems. Thankfully, some of the decisions we took are yielding fruitful results now and the governor felt it necessary to also call the stakeholders to come for another round of meeting so that better decisions that will sustain the peace will be taken,” he said.
He called on the various communities to embrace peace, saying no society makes progress without cooperation.
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