The village head of Rugan Ardo, Abubakar Sodangi, has said
that the people killed on Thursday during a military operation in Keana
Local Government were tied before they were executed.
Mr.
Sodangi stated this during a condolence visit by the state governor,
Umaru Al-Makura, to the Osana of Keana, Emmanuel Elayo, on Friday.
Soldiers had been accused of mounting an operation in the local
government on Thursday, killing about 30 Fulani.
The village head,
however, said 15 people were killed in the attack. Mr. Sodangi said
that the soldiers had first visited while the community was mourning the
death of his father.
He said the soldiers asked why his family
was sitting under a tree receiving condolences; and that they were then
shown the grave of his father. According to him, the soldiers left and
returned to tie nine people together, head to head. The nine were taken
100 metres away and then executed, he said. Mr. Sodangi said 15 people
were killed by the soldiers, including his own son.
Governor
Al-Makura called on the Nigerian government to review the military
operation in the state, to guide against civilian casualties. He said
the casualties of the Thursday operation were herdsmen resident in Keana
and not insurgents as widely reported by some national dailies.
He
therefore stressed the need for the operation to be reviewed, to focus
on tracking the real insurgents traversing the borders of Benue,
Nasarawa, Adamawa, Plateau, Taraba and Kogi States. Mr. Al-Makura stated
that he was not informed of the military operation until it was
underway.
He then emphasised the need for traditional rulers to be
duly informed of such operations in their locality in order to avert
the incidence of innocent casualties. The governor called on the people
of the area, especially the herdsmen, to remain calm and not take laws
into their hands.
The Osana of Keana, Mr. Elayo, described the
incident as “unfortunate” as herdsmen and farmers in the area were
working hard to fish out criminals infiltrating their ranks to cause
mayhem. He said that most of those killed were resident in his domain
and had lived peacefully with other ethnic groups in the area.
He
said 10 corpses were brought to his palace by the herdsmen, while three
other victims were receiving treatment at the hospital.
He urged
the people of the area to eschew all forms of violence as no meaningful
development could be achieved in an atmosphere of rancour. The Nigerian
military has said it is investigating the killings.
READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/63713.html
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