Panic in Kpeigyei community over killing of Fulani youth

Mustapha Iliyasu, in company with his pregnant wife, Mariam and other friends, had gone to deliver a cow on behalf of his uncle, Iliyasu Haruna. The live cow was delivered to the palace of the traditional head of Kpeigyei, a sleepy settlement on the fringe of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The cow was meant to be slaughtered to entertain guests at a remembrance ceremony for the father of the councillor representing the Orozo Ward in the Abuja Municipal Area Council, Mr Gagara Peche Galadima some days away. For a typical Fulani youth, herding cattle, either for grazing or for delivery to the designated location is fun.

And for Mustapha and his friends, it was fun taking the cow for delivery to a local politician. The cow was delivered to the local politician in one piece. So Mustapha, his pregnant wife and his friends were returning home. Unknown to them, a group of young men, believed to be members of a cult, were laying an ambush for the jolly good friends.

And before anyone could say Ruga, the alleged cult boys bushwhacked the Fulani youths. Mustapha's pregnant wife was their target as they attempted to drag her into a nearby bush, for God knows what. Of course, it's only a coward, or a fool, or a cowardly fool, would stand by and watch his wife attacked by hoodlums.

Mustapha challenged the gang members and had attempted to rescue his wife from her attackers. The rampaging gang members, believed to be native Gbagyi youths, left Mariam off their hands and descended on the husband.

He was reported to have been dealt multiple machete blows for daring to show such bravery. His friends were also not spared as members of the gang were said to have launched similar machete attacks on them.

But while his friends escaped from the scene with varying degrees of machete injuries, Mustapha was not that lucky. Apparently, as a result of excessive loss of blood from the injuries inflicted of him, he was too weak to run from his attackers.

Within hours, his eyes glazed in their sockets and as the hours went by, Mustapha slipped into rigour mortis. On receiving the news of the attack, Mustapha's uncle had rushed to the scene to see if he could rescue his nephew. By the time he arrived at the scene, his nephew's lifeless body had been evacuated and deposited in a local morgue.

Iliyasu Haruna could not come to terms with the reality that the young man he sent on a harmless errand only a few hours back was dead. And the uncle wept. Now the erstwhile peaceful community where the Gbagyi had co-habited with their Fulani neighbours over the years, can no longer sleep.

Known for an entrenched culture of reprisal, residents of the community now live in trepidation. They are well aware that the Fulani don't forget injury to one of their own. There are fears that the senseless killing of Mustapha, allegedly by Gbagyi youths may trigger reprisal attacks typical of the Fulani credo. Members of the community are said to be sleeping with one eye open since the incident occurred.

But dispelling fears in the now tensed community, Haruna assured that there would be no reprisal as long as the killers of his nephew are brought to justice. Narrating the incident to one of our correspondents, Haruna confirmed that he sent his nephew to deliver a cow to the said councillor on a fateful day.

In his words, "The Councillor representing Orozo Ward in Abuja Municipal Area Council was organising a remembrance ceremony for his late father and the Chief of Gbegi. He bought a cow from me but because I was not disposed of, I sent my elder brother's son (the victim) to take the cow to the man.

I also gave him some cash donation to give to the celebrant since I would not be attending the ceremony. I was in the house around 11 am when one of the boys called me that they had killed my brother's son and I saw some of the boys who were attacked with him running to the house.

They told me that they were going home after they had delivered the cow when some boys armed with machetes stopped them and started dragging the only woman among them who happened to be the wife of the victim.

At that point, he (Mustapha) came out to stop them from taking the wife away and they attacked him with cutlasses and killed him and fled."

Amid tears, Haruna continued, "I got there about 1 am and saw his lifeless body soaked in blood. Then I went to Jukwoyi Police station and reported the matter and the Police came and took the corpse to a mortuary. Two of the suspects have been arrested, one of them is the son of the councillor who organised the event, while others are still walking the streets as if there is no consequence to killing an innocent man. All we are demanding is justice because some influential people are trying to suppress the matter.

But if that is done, it will result in a fight and we don't want that. We have been living with the Gbegi people for a long time. Most of us were born in Gbegi. The only thing that can avert possible reprisal is justice.

We want the Police to give us the corpse for burial but we are demanding that every person that was involved should be brought to book."

Also, Idris Yusuf Abdallah, the zonal Secretary-General of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, AMAC FCT Chapter, said that all they wanted is justice in the matter.

Abdallah said, "Our stand in this is that we the Fulani, most especially in the FCT, know nothing but peace. So we are calling on the government to do the right thing, in this case, to avoid any problem because this is not the first time they would be killing Fulani in Orozo Ward and nothing was done.

But this time around, it's either they do justice to this case or else we take the law into our hands. We are not praying for violence but we need justice."

Galadima described the incident as unfortunate.

He stated that the Fulani herdsmen and the community have been living together in harmony for a very long time without any crisis. According to him, "It was the remembrance ceremony of my late uncle.

Even the cow we bought for the occasion stayed with the Fulani herders for about six months. After delivering the cow in the morning, the Fulani boys came back in the evening for the occasion. I had already gone to bed when they woke me up that the Fulani boys were fighting. I went out to the scene and the boy was already dead."

The Police Public Relations Officer in charge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, Anjuguri Manzah, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), would not comment on the matter because he had not been officially briefed yet. The late Mustapha had since been buried.