Herdsmen seek help over alleged extortion by soldiers in Kaduna

Fulani herdsmen in Zangon Urban community in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State have raised an alarm over alleged victimisation and extortion by military personnel deployed under Operation Safe Haven in the area.

The herdsmen, while speaking to Daily Trust, appealed to relevant government arms to investigate the issue and bring the culprits to book.

Some residents of the community, who spoke to our correspondent, accused one Captain M. Bashorun of extorting money from them in exchange for their seized cattle, among other allegations.

Muhammad Ibrahim, a resident of Zangon Urban community, said he has had several encounters with Captain Bashorun where he was forced to part with huge sums of money to get his seized cattle back.

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“The soldier will just seize our cattle without any offence being committed and take them to their camp in Zango and the owners will have to pay a fine to get their cattle back. In my presence, he took away cattle belonging to Alhaji Goma and when I questioned his action, he did not bother to answer.

“The next day after the incident, we went to the soldiers’ camp to get the cattle but he insisted that we pay a fine for damages to their farm.

“We argued that they (soldiers) brought the cattle to the farm, which eventually got damaged but it fell on deaf ears. For peace to reign, Alhaji Goma gave the money and we paid the fine of N140,000.

“Not long after that incident, Captain Bashorun seized the cattle again and I was the one who went to collect them because Alhaji Goma was not in town. I voiced my displeasure over his actions and the unfair treatment he is subjecting the Fulani in the community.

“Later that day, I was at home when some military police came from Jos, Plateau State, they said they were on a fact-finding mission and asked us to cooperate with them.

“The soldiers from Jos asked us what the soldiers in the area had been doing to us and we told them everything about how the soldiers seize our cows and release them only after we paid money.

“After we told them everything, they asked us to follow them to the soldiers’ camp where we repeated the same thing in front of the soldier in question. After they left, the officer threatened that he would deal with me and Alhaji Goma.”

He added, “One day, my children and my dogs were herding our cattle when they encountered the officer, he was in company of two other soldiers and they were holding guns. One of the soldiers shot in the direction of my children, the bullet barely missed my son and hit one of my dogs.

“Out of fear, I called one colonel I know from Jos and explained to him what happened and he asked that I send a video of the dog which I did and he sent it to the commander in Kafanchan. After that, I don’t know what transpired between the captain and the commander in Kafanchan.

“On September 10, 2024, the soldiers fired some bullets into the air and the next thing we saw was that houses were set ablaze in Kakwa village.

“There was another operation by soldiers in the area, some shanties belonging to Fulani were burnt and the cattle let loose to destroy people’s farms.

“We do not know what we have done wrong to the soldiers, I have lived with many soldiers but I have not had problems with them. The government should please intervene in this matter,” he pleaded.

Corroborating Ibrahim’s story, Jafaru Salihu, the Chairman, Bandaraku Youth Development Association, Kaduna, accused the same commander of conniving with the locals to trample on the rights of Fulani.

Salihu, a resident of Ladduga, said, “We have been enjoying peace since the deployment of Operation Safe Haven to Zangon Kataf, but after that, the things the soldiers, who were brought to ensure peace are doing will not bring peace to the community.

“As a leader, I went and saw with my eyes how houses were burnt and I could only plead with the people not to retaliate but rather, tell the world the kind of injustice they are facing so that the authorities concerned can put an end to it because we want peace, if not, if something bad happens, it will be said that the Fulani have attacked people and we do not want that.

“The soldiers are conniving with the locals to trample on the rights of the Fulani. If you go to the place where the soldiers keep the seized cattle, the cattle dung is up to your knees. They keep them pending when the owners are able to pay the fine ranging between N200,000 to N2 million and sometimes the cattle die in the place because they don’t feed them. The place is called Gora under Zango.”

He said the happenings are very worrisome especially at a time when Governor Uba Sani is making efforts to restore peace in the state and the deployment of Sector 7 in Kafanchan.

He called on the authorities concerned to investigate the matter and possibly, redeploy the soldiers involved in the interest of peace saying, “We have continued to sensitise our members to always be watchful not to allow their cattle to go into people’s farms.”

When contacted last Thursday and Monday, the spokesman of Operation Safe Haven, Captain Zhakom Sampson, promised to find out and get back, but did not.

“This is a very weighty allegation and I must find out the truth of the matter. I will find out from the sector commander and get back to you,” he had said.

After sendings a text message to the Spokesperson of Operation Safe Haven on Sunday morning, our correspondent was directed to call the Operation Safe Haven official line 08000020203.

After our correspondent narrated the allegation made by the herdsmen to the officer on who took the call, he simply said: “Thank you for this information. We will take it up. God bless!”

However,our correspondent gathered that the General Officer Commanding 3 Division who is also the Commander, Operation Safe Haven, Major General AE Abubakar is privy to all calls put across to the line.