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Over 15,000 people in Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna State have been displaced following recent attacks on rural communities by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.
The victims were said to be taking refuge at a primary school and the Divisional Police Station in Gwantu, the headquarters of the local council.
Also, 110 corpses of those who were killed during the incident were given mass burial yesterday by the council authorities while the relatives who were able to identify the corpses of their loved ones collected them for a decent burial.
THISDAY gathered that thousands of people in rural communities in the state had all fled their homes for fear of the unknown following the massive attacks by the gunmen which led to killings and destruction of property.
Over 167 people were killed in the attacks which started on Monday night to Tuesday leading to the sacking of over 20 villages in the area.
A councillor representing Gwantu ward, Hon. Shehu Ajetu, told THISDAY in a telephone interview that the villagers are very scared of staying in their communities and are fleeing into the local government headquarters where there is security.
According to him, over 15,000 people had relocated to the refugee camps at the primary school and the divisional police station in Gwantu.
“What is happening is that our people in the villages are running away from their homes because they don’t know what would happen. So even people in villages who were not attacked were running away because of fear of the unknown.
“Those who were attacked have no homes again because their houses were burnt. Everybody is running to the refugee camp and at the moment, we have over 15, 000 people at the primary school and the divisional police station.
“There are thousands of others who fled to Akwanga in Nasarawa State because their villages are closer to Akwanga. They are being camped in a primary school that is being constructed. We also have hundreds of others who fled to other places in Jama’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
“The situation is calm now, but we have very serious challenges of feeding and accommodating this large number of people.
“The 24-hour curfew cannot be enforced in the villages because it is just not possible for security agencies to be in all the villages within the locality, I think that is the more reason why everybody is running to where they can be protected,” he said.
Meanwhile a combined team of officials of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the North west zone and officials of the state ministry of health are billed to visit the area for an assessment of the situation.
Spokesman of SEMA, Mallam Abubakar Zakari Adamu, told THISDAY in a telephone interview that the team embarked on an assessment of those killed, those wounded, the houses destroyed and the number of displaced people with a view to providing support.
“We have not been able to move to the area because we also have to ensure our safety first, now that the situation is under control and security had been beefed up, a team led by the executive secretary of SEMA, Mr. Ishaku Dogo Makama, will visit the area on today” he said.
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