News Investigators/ The Atyap Community in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State has expressed sadness over the resurgence of attacks on its villages, blaming it on faulty security report.
Atyap said a recent security report by the sector commander of operation safe haven, Timothy Opurum in which he blamed the attacks on the community as a reprisal over an alleged poisoning of cattle was a total fallacy.
The National President, Atyap Development Association, Samuel Achi, who spoke on behalf of the community at a media briefing on Monday in Samaru, lamented that the attacks on the community had claimed a lot of lives, adding that several houses, livestock and food barns burnt down.
Mr Achi quoted the report, said to be the First Quarter Security Report presented to Gov. Nasir El-Rufai on April 19, as accusing the Atyap of killing cows and the herders, a development, he said, sparked up the attacks.
Achi described the allegations as “a total fallacy” that was turning the victims to the accused.
Mr Achi urged the security agencies to be fair to all so as to earn the confidence required for efficiency.
He specifically urged them to adopt measures to apprehend the attackers and bring them to justice to serve as a deterrent to others.
Regretting that Atyap land had dominated the headlines for the wrong reasons following the renewed attacks, he listed worst hit villages to include Ungwan-Wakili, Lagson, Atakjei and Runji.
He said that thousands of residents had been displaced as many villages were burnt down.
He also said that it was not right for the security chief to accuse the traditional leaders of failing to prevent the crises.
He said Mr. Opurum, a Brigadier-General, should have acknowledged the contributions of the Atyap Traditional Council and other community leaders toward maintaining peace in the Chiefdom.
He added that the allegations of cow poisoning came as a surprise to the Atyap community.
“The allegation came to us as a surprise because he knows of a standing agreement in Atyap land that if there is a proven case of cow poisoning against any community, such community shall be responsible for replacing such cows.
“In the same coin, the owner of cows that destroy any farm shall bear full responsibility for such destruction.
“With this agreement, there is no justification for the attacks,” he said.
He called for an end to the attacks, urging the people to always be alert.
On his part, Chairman, Zango-Kataf Local Government, Francis Sani, called on the state and federal government, as well as the international community, to come to the aid of his people by ending the killings. Sani pointed out that without peace, no community would develop.
