The Chairman, Muslim Council, Adamawa State, Alhaji Abubakar Magaji, has given reasons the recent killings in Numan allegedly perpetrated by the Bachama militias were aimed at eliminating the Muslim-Fulani from the state.
He maintained that women and children targeted was a way of exterminating the Muslim-Fulani in the state.
Speaking with Punch, Magaji explained that there are no farmlands in the area to suggest that the clash was between herdsmen and farmers.
In his words, “I came into that conclusion after my visit to the Numan General Hospital and I discovered that there were 45 children among the 55 corpses that were deposited at the mortuary after the incident.
“Only one , out of the remaining corpses was a man, the rest were young female adults and children below the age of 10.
“So , that is why we described the unfortunate incident as genocide against the Muslim-Fulani. It is our strong belief that no one, in an attempt to carry out any form of revenge, will target innocent children for destruction. We also believe that the perpetrators were not Muslims, because no genuine Muslim will deliberately wage war against his fellow Muslim brothers and sisters.
“Even, the dreaded Boko Haram sect did not do that. So, we are convinced that certainly , a certain group, which is not happy seeing the Muslims in the state, deliberately targeted us for elimination.
“But the majority of the people in the state believe that the incident was a normal recurring clash between herdsmen and farmers, which turned bloody.
“We don’t subscribe to that argument at all because there is no farmland in the area where the Muslim- Fulani are residing in Numan.
“There were also no crops where our cows are grazing since nobody cultivates farms there . Apart from this, there was no report that the Fulani encroached into the farms and destroyed crops.
“Any right -thinking person will agree with us that what happened in Numan was a premeditated killing because the perpetrators did not strike until all the male adults had left the community in search of pastures for their animals.
“We were surprised to read in the newspapers that it was a clash between herdsmen and farmers. I don’t understand how there could be a clash between a group of people armed with guns and another group of innocent young women in company with their children.
“Certainly, something has been going on secretly for a long time which was not known to even the security agents and the Fulani in that area.”
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