Residents of a Fulani settlement near Keana in Nasarawa State Thursday accused the Nigerian Army of invading their territory, killing at least 30 persons in a brutal manner.
Eyewitnesses say the killings were unprovoked and that majority of the victims were too old to flee.
Chairman of Keana local government area, Haruna Oshegba, confirmed the attack, saying that eight dead bodies were kept at the Specialist Hospital, Lafia.
“There is crisis in my council and it is a military operation but I don’t know the details. I’m trying to piece information together to know exactly what happened,” he said.
By the time reporters showed up at the hospital, a police Hilux van had about 9 dead people and another pick-up van had a dead female inside.
Meanwhile, secretary of the Fulani interest group, Muhammed Husseini, has threatened to file a case at the International Criminal Court, ICC, against the federal government.
He accused the government of complicity in the massacre of Fulanis in the state.
“I’m presently in the mortuary receiving corpses. They killed over 30 of our men for no reason. This is genocide and we will approach the International Criminal Court, ICC,” he said.
The Nigerian military is yet to respond to the allegation.
It would be recalled that the Nigerian military, barely three days ago, announced plans to deploy troops to Nasarawa, Benue, and Kaduna to counter the recent attack by Fulani herdsmen that has killed scores of civilians.