A Fulani elder who has lived in the Hurti community of Manguna District, Bokkos Local Government Area, Plateau State, for over thirty years has said the gunmen who killed 46 people were from his own tribe.Fulanis
In a video shared by journalist Masara Kim Usman on Tuesday, the elder, who has lived peacefully among the mostly Christian community for 32 years, said the attackers spoke the Fulani language and showed their identity through their language and actions.
He said when the attackers came into the community, he went up to them and spoke to them in Fulfulde, asking why they wanted to kill the people he called “friends” and “family. “He told how he stood in front of the attackers and asked in their language why they wanted to kill the people. They replied that they would not stop. Even though he tried to stop them, the gunmen threatened to kill him if he didn’t move. They then pushed him aside and started killing people and burning homes owned by Christians.
The most painful part for him was that the killers were his own tribe members, who ignored his pleas to spare the people he had lived with for decades and considered family. Notably, no Muslim or Fulani person was hurt during the attack.
He said,,
“I heard them speaking fluent Fulani language. They were talking in the Fulani language. So I approached them and spoke to them in the same language. Women were coming to my place and begging me to save them. If I had the power to save them, I would have done so.”I have been living with them for so many years and they have become my family. When they left, I went to the hills and watched the whole situation.”Then they regrouped and started shooting. There was shooting all over the town. We all hid in one room while the shooting continued for a long time, killing many people.”