SORROW, TEARS AS ETHNIC ATTACKS RENDER GOMBE COMMUNITY DESOLATE
Such was the life the Nyuwar and Jessu communities lived until the night of Monday, April 10, 2021 when an attack by hundreds of youths from Waja believed to be high on drugs disrupted the age long peaceful co-existence between Waja and Lunguda tribes in Nyuwar and Jessu communities, Gombe State.
This was the scenario as armed soldiers, police and DSS men sent to keep the peace received a delegation of the Gombe State Government at the palace of the District Head of Nyuwar. The group of security operatives, community leaders and top government officials sat quietly unable to say a word for more than 10 minutes. The damage was massive and unbelievable particularly because it was a case of brothers attacking brothers.
At the centre of the semi-circle seating arrangement was the spokesman for the District Head, Yuhana Galmaka Pisagi spotting a caftan and armed with a dagger in his hand. His legs were shaking, almost uncontrollable and restless. Sitting beside him was the state Commissioner for Internal Security, Adamu Dishi Kupto who stretched forth his hand to tap the apparently furious Pisagi and ask him to calm down.
Pisagi had just lost his brother, who also was the elder brother to the district head in the attack on Nyuwar community by Waja youths who stormed the once bubbling community around 10 pm on Monday and unleashed untold horror, leaving blood, tears and fire behind.
The district head’s elder brother was not only killed, his attackers also severed his head and took it away. Ten other persons were killed in similar circumstance with their heads, wrists, feet and vital organs like the heart, kidney and private parts removed. Nyuwar community was devastated with more than 90 per cent of its structures torched by the attackers.
The attacks, which started with a mere statement by a
certain man around 2019, snowballed into what has today claimed lives and
properties in Nyuwar, the community that had produced the immediate past
Secretary to the State Government and the Attorney General and Commissioner for
Justice in Gombe State.
For the state government, it was one attack too many. Hence
Governor Inuwa Yahaya and his deputy, Manasha Jatau, immediately rushed to the
scene on Tuesday evening only to find the entire town engulfed in smoke and
raging fire as displaced women and children wailed over their losses.
GENESIS OF CRISIS
Recalling the genesis of the crisis, Pisagi said: “In 2019, a certain man named Shata said that the Wajas in Nyuwar were prepared to fight our people. We thought that he was joking because we were not expecting something like that.
“He came the second time and told us the same thing. When he
came the third time, I reported him to the district head. The district head
took up the matter and reported to the police and we got the man arrested.
“He was arrested somewhere around Gelemutu area, but as he
was being taking away in the police van, the youths in Gelemutu, armed with
bows and arrows, ambushed the police.
“Later, the suspect said he forgot something in the house
and wanted to go and take it. The police allowed him and that was how he
escaped through the backyard.
“He was later seen in a nearby village called Walhi and he
spent three months there in 2019. That was how the matter was rested and we
thought it was over.”
Pisagi said, however, that sometime in 2020, there was a
tussle over a piece of farmland in Nyuwar and the village heads met and
resolved the matter peacefully. “But in July last year, they (Wajas) invited
people from Bambam, Dogoruwa, Makasi, Kulani, Degeri, Shaka and others. Before
we knew what is happening all the hills surrounding us were full of people.
“We were all in panic because we didn’t really know what was
happening, but the incident confirmed to us the statement made by Shata in 2019
that they were prepared to attack us.
“Somehow, God was so kind to us on that day, because there
was a heavy downpour. It was so heavy that visibility was so poor and the river
overflowed its bank, thereby preventing the invaders who had surrounded us from
crossing to our side.
“The following day, there was a thick darkness everywhere
that people found it difficult to move. That was how God saved us from the
planned attack in July last year.”
“The attacks started on Monday night till around 11 am on
Tuesday, and by Thursday, attacking youths were still hanging around on top of
the hills despite the deployment of armed soldiers, police and DSS to restore
normalcy.
“This morning, they still came, shouting and jumping around
the hills before the soldiers started shooting to drive them away.”
Although peace has been restored in Nyuwar, normalcy was yet
to be restored. It is believed that it will take more than 10 years of
consistent investment from both government and the individuals for life to
return to normal in the community.
Seventy-five years old Nancy Philemon was a victim of the
intra-ethnic attack which claimed her house and those of her three children.
Nancy, now homeless like many other women and children, is taking refuge in the
ECWA Church in Nyuwar. Her children ran to the neighbouring village of Cham for
safety.
The story was the same with Jerome Kunama Kahala, a retired
teacher in Nyuwar, who lost everything to the incident. “All I have now is this
clothe that I am wearing,” said Jerome who armed himself with bow and arrow.
He said the attack started around 10 pm on Monday when they
started hearing strange noises from neighbouring villages.
He said: “I was in bed when my children woke me up and asked
me to come and see what was happening. When I came out, I saw flames rising up
to the sky. Soon, we saw the fire in another neighbouring village and then in
Nyuwar here.
“We all came out with our children and started defending the
community. It was a fierce battle which lasted till 11 am on Tuesday. By the
time the police came, we had already repelled the attacks.
“They destroyed so many things as you can see—our houses,
our animals, grains, ban, everything. They even stole my cattle.”
Jerome’s story was not different from that of Ziliyau
Yuhana, except that in Yuhana’s case, he lost three of his family members to
the incident. Ziliyau’s ban of grains and houses were also set ablaze. The
grains were still burning as he struggled to salvage some of them for the
remaining members of his family to have something to eat.
When the soldiers arrived, they packed the carcasses of
human bodies into a mass grave near the checkpoint at the entrance of Nyuwar.
At the end of the attack, 11 lives were lost, excluding those that were burnt
inside their houses.
The Galadima of Jessu, Goma Jesmel, blamed the attacks on
Waja youths who he said were high on drugs.
Jesmel said: “It was the hunting season, so a group of
hunters from Jessu went into the bush to hunt. Hunting is our normal business
during the dry season and we hunt normally on Jessu side, not Waja side.
“It was while we were hunting that some Waja people came
into our territory through Heme. All of us are from the same territory, same
chiefdom, same local government area and same state.
“What is shocking to us is that we did not have any previous
conflict with Waja people. The conflict used to be between Waja tribe in Gombe
and Lunguda from Adamawa.
“The attack started around 7 pm on Monday in Heme when we
started seeing fire in the villages.”
According to him, 10 people were killed in the attack on
Heme but they were not able to recover all the bodies.
Immediately the news of the attacks filtered into the state
capital, Gombe, Governor Inuwa Yahaya convened a security meeting and ordered
the deployment of soldiers, police, DSS and Nigeria Civil Defense Corps men to
the venue. After his visit, he imposed a dusk to dawn curfew on Nyuwar and
neighbouring villages.
Governor Yahaya condemned the incident and vowed to look
into it and bring the perpetrators to book. He then led the Deputy Governor and
other top government functionaries to the place.
Governor Yahaya said: “Let me extend my heartfelt condolences
to you over the loss of precious lives and property as a result of this
senseless act. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, and as a responsible
government, we are conscious of our responsibilities of safeguarding the lives
and property of our people.”
Immediately the governor left Nyuwar and Jessu, the
Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi, announced a
dusk to dawn curfew in the two communities.
According to the SSG, the curfew becomes necessary to douse
the tension and restore peace and order in the affected areas. He said security
personnel had been deployed to restore normalcy while the curfew would subsist
until further notice.
The Commissioner for Internal Security, Adamu Dishi Kupto,
who led the delegation to deliver the relief materials promised by Governor
Yahaya, said he was still in shock over the incident even though he was there
earlier with the Governor.
He said the level of trauma suffered by the people had
affected them psychologically, adding that because of the way the attacks came,
many of them were now living in fears and even finding it difficult to sleep.
“We are really shocked, we are disappointed and dismayed
with the way the thing happened. It is so sad to see lives and properties
destroyed like this,” he said.
Although peace has been restored, the displaced people,
mostly women and children, are scattered in churches in neighbouring villages.
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