How Vigilante Commander, Farmer D!ed In Gwagwalada Herders-Farmers Clash In Nigeria’s Capital

Two people were reportedly k!lled on Wednesday during a violent clash between farmers and suspected herders in the Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The two individuals k!lled have been identified as Dahiru Yakubu and Musa Yaestu, the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) commander in Gurfata.

Sources told SaharaReporters that the incident occurred after cows strayed into a farm and began eating crops, leading to a confrontation between the farmers and a herder boy.

SaharaReporters gathered that the situation escalated after the farmers attacked the herder boy on the spot.

“What really happened yesterday was that these (farmers) people were on the farm, then they saw cows entering their farm and eating their crops. So immediately, they stood up and started beating the Fulani herder boy. They beat him to the extent that they broke his head,” a source said.

“So the younger brother of the Fulani boy who was beaten ran home and called their elder brother immediately. When their brother came, he overpowered one of them and butchered him.”

SaharaReporters gathered that the situation escalated into a de@dly confrontation, during which a second victim, Yaestu — a member of the Vigilante Group — was also k!lled.

The deceased persons were reportedly laid to rest on Wednesday.

“Security operatives have taken over the area to prevent further escalation,” a resident of the community said.

When SaharaReporters reached out to the spokesperson of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command, Josephine Adeh, for comments on the matter, she neither answered phone calls nor responded to text messages.

Earlier on Wednesday, a resident of Gwagwalada Area Council raised the alarm over continued attacks on their communities by suspected herdsmen.

In an open letter, the resident, Sani Usman Zakariyya, said the violence, which has persisted over the years, had become more frequent in rural parts of the council, including Paiko, Ibwa, Dobi and neighbouring wards.

Zakariyya accused the authorities of neglecting their safety and allowing the attacks to go unchecked.

He said the situation had become unbearable and called for urgent government intervention.

He wrote, “Over the years as a resident of Gwagwalada Area Council—I have witnessed a series of inhumane activities from the Fulani herdsmen where the indigenous farmers were massacred on their own farms and even at home without no just cause in their own ancestral home.

“Gwagwalada Area Council has witnessed a surge in violent incidents from the herders—mainly in Paiko, Ibwa, Dobi and other wards in the council—prompting growing unease among its residents at the rural areas and nothing has changed to prevent the reckless k!llings of the original inhabitants that has ‘No other home except Gwagwalada’.

“It might interest you to also know that there have been several attacks and k!llings across FCT land, but the people are handicapped without any strength to voice out or to defend themselves as most of their leaders had been compromised politically, trading the safety and well-being of their land in favour of their own personal interests.”

He urged the government to act swiftly, saying, “I hereby urge the FCT Minister Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike - CON, GSSRS! The President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to call for a thorough and unbiased investigation into the regular attacks on the indigenous people of our dear council and prosecute without favour the culprits who are ceaselessly committed to perpetuating unrest in Gwagwalada Area Council and FCT at large.”

“The mayhem must not continue in the name of whatsoever—as people’s lives remain more valuable than any individual’s interest,” he added.

He appealed for more security presence in the affected communities and justice for victims of the attacks.