People who were part of the crowd that was forced into a stampede in Barkin-Ladi that led to the death of Senator Gyang Dantong and Hon Gyang Fulani last Sunday gave details of what happened.
The account of Hon Henry Pam, a close friend of late Hon Gyang Fulani, who was with him just before Fulani slumped and later died, following the stampede of last Sunday, contradicted earlier reports that the victims died as a result of gun attacks. Pam said, “We trekked for over a kilometre from where we parked our cars to the pastor’s house where over 40 people, mainly women and children, were burnt to ashes or murdered in a cruel manner.
There were dead bodies elsewhere; some in places where they couldn’t be brought down. For example, we had to dig a place and bury some out there around the hills. We found some inside the pit and because we could not remove them, we pushed sand in to cover them. We now came back down to where we had identified to do the mass burial of those that had been assembled and the mass grave was dug. After we had put five bodies, suddenly we heard sounds of gunshots from the top of the hill towards us. Everybody started running for their life. We took different directions, but they (the two lawmakers who died) were in front of us…
“Four people collapsed: the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) state secretary Pam Sale, Senator Gyang Dantong, Hon Gyang Fulani, and Rep Simon Mwadkon; but while Mwadkon and Sale were able to revive, Dantong and Fulani were not lucky. Dantong and Fulani were taken away. We learnt later that though they were taken away the same time, Dantong who was put in an STF vehicle did not arrive hospital till more than an hour after Fulani arrived the hospital. This was a shock to us and when we enquired, we were told that a senior STF officer was questioning his subordinate for taking it upon himself to take Dantong to hospital. That is how Dantong died needlessly. I know we don’t have life, but if Dantong had arrived hospital early, he would have lived.
“Nobody died by bullet wounds during the shooting on the burial site. Bullets came at us, but mysteriously, nobody was hit. I, for one, I escaped narrowly. I felt the sounds of bullet and the moment I escaped I saw a bullet where I had left. I crawled much of the way: I can crawl well, I am a brigade officer. I thank God for that because, if not, I would have been killed.”
On what could solve the incessant attacks, Henry said the hilltop gunmen were Fulani mercenaries from some other land who should be dislodged: “What can solve the problem will be for the STF or whichever security agency to go up the hill and get those people. And nobody has sat down to ask who these killers are. Are they the Fulani who have always lived there? If they go to Mahanga now and they see people they say they are settlers. They are not settlers. These are the mercenaries. They came from somewhere; they are not from that place.”
Rep. Simon Mwadkon, who slumped like Dantong and Fulani, but survived has also given his own explanation as to what happened, as reported by many national dailies, including Daily Trust: “We were at the burial ground preparing to bury the victims of a massive attack on the villages when the gunmen started shooting, forcing everyone to abandon the corpses and scurry to safety. Everyone was racing away, but the senator slumped first and there was a rush to take him.”
The Caretaker Chairman of Barkin-Ladi Local Government Area, Dr Emmanuel Loman, said the attackers were highly trained mercenaries who were well-armed. He spoke in some detail: “The Berom and the Fulani have come a very long way. We live together peacefully. Our parents live together peacefully. We know those in Barkin-Ladi Local Government Area that we’ve lived with and related well. But after the 2001 crisis in Jos, which didn’t even reach here, a lot of them began to come from nowhere and occupied our land, and began to make trouble.
“To worsen it they went and got mercenaries to fight the indigenes. They came with sophisticated weapons. They came in hundreds and were divided into segments. Most of the villages in the Gashish District were being attacked. The whole thing is really unfortunate because there are very good ones among these people who have been with us, but the activities of these ones are now affecting all of us.”
On the insistence by many that the attackers were not Fulani, he said: “I was there live. When I went to the village called Kuzen, Fulanis were there. I have told you what happened. They brought mercenaries.”
On exactly how the attacks were staged, Loman said: “About four days to the bloody attacks, the STF men there saw a smoke very close to where they are stationed. Then they saw torchlight, a distance away, pointing towards them. The STF moved over to see what was really happening. Unknown to them, the attackers were already very close. As the STF men moved closer to them, they opened fire and killed a Mopol among the STF members. That marked the beginning of the attacks we now all know about. The following day, these people entered the farm lands of the indigenes and destroyed them. This created tension in the villages there. We visited there. I was there with the sector Commander of the STF in the place. We wrote our reports.
I recommended action that should be taken. Not up to two days after that, in the morning of Saturday, people were just waking up to begin their normal activities when there were gunshots around the villages – sporadic gunshots. The attackers overpowered the STF men and all they could do was to gather the villagers they could reach and try to protect them. Meanwhile, the attackers spread to the villages killing people and burning houses. These people who were organised in groups attacked the various villages simultaneously.”
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