Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen
have attacked the Bare community in the Numan Local Government Area of
Adamawa State and burnt down a Catholic seminary and houses in the area.
The Adamawa State Police Command
confirmed the incident and said the attackers destroyed several houses
but that no life was lost.
In a reaction to claims by the Catholic
Church that the seminary in the area was burnt down in the attack, the
Police Public Relations Officer, Othman Abubakar, said information
available to the force did not specify the number and identities of the
burnt buildings.
“There was an attack and houses were
burnt down, but there was no loss of live. But so far, we have deployed
our men to restore normalcy,” he said.
But the Bishop, Catholic Diocese of
Yola, Stephen Mamza, who confirmed the destruction of the seminary in
Daso, lamented the belated deployment of security personnel in the area.
He said the attackers came in their hundreds, adding that they operated unhindered for several hours.
The police spokesman also noted that when soldiers were contacted during the attack, they complained that they had no vehicle.
Mamza said, “The soldiers contacted
while the attack was going on complained that they had no vehicle to
promptly intervene. They had no vehicles for God’s sake and there were
only four policemen stationed in that place and the attackers were up to
100.
“Our reverend father’s house was burnt
and there’s no house around that area standing now. They have burnt all
the houses; all my parishioners have left. Nobody can live there.
“About 50 per cent of the people have
returned and reconstructed their houses. The people are now back to
square one, because their houses have been destroyed completely.”
Bare has come under repeated attacks
from suspected Fulani herdsmen following clashes with the farming
community over grazing land.
Last October, the Ward Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in the area was killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen on his farm.
Only last week, the Brigade Commander,
23 Armoured Brigade, Brig. Gen. Bello Mohammed, stated that the military
had successfully quelled all herdsmen/farmers clashes in both Adamawa
and Taraba states.
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