Sunday 13th June was another horrific day for the people of Kushe-Kuru in Jos-South of Plateau State. It was a day of another tragic killing of innocent men, women and children by gunmen the town described as Fulani ethnic militia. As at press time, fourteen people had been confirmed dead. This is a second such attack within Kuru in the last three months.
In small rural towns, as elsewhere, Sunday partying is an intrinsic tradition, a day when people reset themselves after a week of toiling to keep body and soul together. The attackers must have undertaken a reconnaissance of the area ahead of the attack, considering the segregated living style since 2001. At about 9:30 PM, when the attackers struck, Kushe was as effervescent as a beehive.
The gunmen came in through the vast farmlands between Wat settlement and Kushe, targeting a bar that was nearest. There, drinkers were taken unawares while sitting around their drinking tables. The attackers opened fire, turning the bar into a microcosm of hell, leaving behind splatters of blood on walls and desiccated pools of blood in which shards of glass were sprinkled.
No one is certain of the motive, but it is said that Fulani militias had openly informed the people that they intend to launch attacks after the Muslim Ramadan period. And truly, attempts were made at border settlements of Dungus, Dabwak and Kanadap. The attempts were foiled by volunteer patrol men drawn from the very settlements. Frustrated, the gunmen decided to hit Kushe, since it is at the centre where everyone is relaxed, believing the gunmen won’t dare make an attempt.
The member representing Jos-South and Jos-East constituencies at the National Assembly, Honourable Musa Baggos, was at the scene to see things for himself and condole the people, but his arrival stirred a chaotic protest by ignorant youths who feel the MP should have magically ended the killings that has gone on for more than decade. I asked him if it wasn’t right for him to leave the place. “I will be here till the end,” he responded. He could be seen shading tears after he had been taken round to see corpses strewn outside the bar, following the sporadic shootings, outside.
This killings style, which has been here since around 2008, has been branded the herdsmen-farmers conflict. Some groups of thought consider this unfair; it gives the impression that the two have been locked in a war, whereas it is a clear case of cold-blooded murders of innocent farmers, motivated by hatred, contempt and the love of their land and its nourishing green-grass.
