At least 30 killed in Adamawa herdsmen attack

At least 30 people have been reportedly killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Kodomun Community in Demsa Local Government of Adamawa State. The attackers razed down majority of the settlement and killed mostly children and elderly who were unable to run for safety.

The initial casualty figure was 20 but youths from Kodomun who brought out the corpses of the slain members of the community from the bush said the recovery of the additional bodies had raised the death toll from the attacks to 30.

The head of the hunters and vigilante group in charge of the council area, Mr. Hyniel Giwa, said the attack started on Sunday and lasted till Monday morning, adding that it took the intervention of the security forces and vigilante groups to halt the marauding herdsmen from burning the entire Kodomum village to the ground.

"When they heard the sirens of the brigade commander and commissioner of police coming into the village, that was when they abandon their operations and ran away," he said.

Giwa said most of the villagers affected by the attack had since fled the area, adding that some were seen fleeing to Numan town and to Yola, the state capital. He said some of the injured victims were taken to the specialist hospital in Yola by their relatives who were able to flee with them. Dead victims of the attack were buried by locals in the area Wednesday.

However, the Police spokesman of the state command, a superintendent, Abubakar Othman, said 11 people died in the attack with several others injured.

Meanwhile, Hon. Barr Kwamoti Laori visited the community yesterday, August 3rd to sympathize with the victims and donated relief materials.