The incessant clashes between Farmers and herders in Adamawa State compeled six communities comprising of Lawaru, Dong, Nzoruwe, Pulum, Kodomti and Shaforon who accusing Nigerian Airforce Jets of air strike on their communities are set to go to international criminal court (ICC) at Hague for justice.
According to them,they will make all efforts to get justice throught legimate demands because of human rights abuse and genocide committed by the Nigerian Airforce over air raids on villages around Numan during clashes between farmers and herdsmen on December 4th 2017.
Ealier on Nigerian Air force’s Director of public relations, Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya had denied any damage resulted from its air raids on the five communities which are around Numan. NAF contrary to claims by Amnesty International and thecommunities that the EC 135 attack helicopter and an Alfa jet deployed to Numan in response to attacks by “hoodlums” on the area caused significant destruction against fleeing villagers, said this was not true as its aircraft neither set any of
the villages on fire nor caused the deaths of any villager.
But addressing Journalists in Yola on Friday, the affected communities of Lawaru, Dong, Nzoruwe, Pulum, Kodomti and Shaforon, through their
spokesman Lawrence Jocthan, dismissed the denials by the Nigerian Airforce.
While attached pictures of Amunition,guns and fighter jets used in raiding their communities ,Mr Tony Mabulti (Lawaru), Lawrence Jocthan (Dong), Amori Fara (Nzoruwe), Jackson Gashitufo (Pulum), Augustine Elkana (Shaforon) and John
Timothy (Kodomti), jointly signed the press statement in an effort to prove that the Nigeria Airforce clearly carried out an air bombardment against their communities.
In their statement the used the reports of Amnesty International report of 30th January 2018,agreeing with them that the air raids of 4th December, 2017 on Lawaru, Dong, Kodomti, Nzuruwei and Shaforon caused “significant destructions”.
“Although Amnesty international reported that ‘it was not possible to establish how much of the deaths and destruction was a direct result of the air attacks or attributable to the attack by herdsmen; eye witnesses and rockets remnants found in lawaru, Dong, Nzoruwe, Pulum, Shaforon, Kodomti and others after the raids clearly established the
facts.”
They therefore said they will go to any length to ensure justice over the killings carried out by Nigerian Air force against hapless citizens being attacked by herdsmen.
“We would spare no efforts to bring justice to those killed by the genocidal attacks against our people by the Nigeria Airforce, even if that means going to the International criminal courts to cause further
investigations into the human rights abuse and for the whole world to know the truth of what happened.
That our situation is beyond farmer herdsmen clashes because NAF cannot come into the situation and bomb people being attacked, killing maiming and destroying their buildings. Our problem is different, there’s a general plan of genocide against our people (Bwatiye) and that is why we want Nigerians and the world to know.”
The communities also demanded for international investigations to be conducted into the attacks. They noted the involvement of the Airforce, as punishment against the Bwatiye for the killing of some Fulani’s in their land.
“ The 4th December 2017 attacks has shown clear manifestation of complicity by government and security agencies. The Numan attacks attack has thus become the first time in the history of Nigeria that Nigeria airforce drones, helicopters and fighter jets were used to provide aerial cover for Fulani terrorists (herdsmen) to kill, maim and destroy property on behalf of a terror group. The hidden narrative in this case is that the herders were avenging the killings of their kith and kin and so they should be “assisted” with such unlawful excessive use of force for the Bwatiye communities to learn a bloody lessons.”
