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How I Lost Eight Family Members Including My Wife During Attack By Fulani Militia In Southern Kaduna –Survivor

Some of the survivors, who spoke with SaharaReporters on Monday, said the horrible incident will continue to remain a nightmare as life will not be the same for them.

Some of the survivors of the recent attacks in Southern Kaduna have narrated their ordeal at the hands of the Fulani militia group, who invaded their communities and how they lost their loved ones in the attacks.

Some of the survivors, who spoke with SaharaReporters on Monday, said the horrible incident will continue to remain a nightmare as life will not be the same for them.

A particular survivor named James Enock, who lost his wife and seven other family members in Kigudu community, said the attackers arrived at the community around 11:00pm and set many houses ablaze.

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He said, "When they arrived, they started shooting and burning houses. When they got to where I and my family members were hiding, they killed many people including members of my family because we were not in our house.

“Five of them died on the spot but the other four were taken to the hospital thinking that they would survive. But my wife died on the way to the hospital and the remaining three died the following day.”

He explained that many people, who fled for fear of being killed, were later hacked to death in the bush because they could not cross a big river that demarcated the village.

He said, “My wife could have escaped only that she could not cross the big river. All the people that ran away when the Fulani attackers arrived were stuck because they could not cross and they were all killed.”

Enock further revealed that they notified security operatives of the danger before the attack but the military left a few hours before the gunmen struck.

He added, "It all started from a neighbouring community of which we heard that they promised to come back and we alerted the security on that particular day that these people promised to come back and attack our village.

"The military came around and stayed till about 4:00pm and left. They were well informed.”

Another victim, Diana Bulus, an eight-year-old girl, who lost her mother at Gora Gan Village, said she had a close shave with death when she heard the sound of gunshots by Fulani militia as people scampered for safety.

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She said, "I can't even recall how I escaped the attack but I just saw myself running alongside other villagers into the bush while the attackers were shooting at us.

"Some people were hit by bullets and fell down in the process. I managed not to stop despite the shooting.

"I slept in the bush because we could not return to the community again.

"But when I returned home the following morning, I met my mother and my brother dead.”

The eight-year-old, who had lost her father, is now left with nobody to fend for her.