Suspected herdsmen burn down Catholic seminary, houses in Adamawa

Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen have attacked the Bare
community in the Numan Local Government Area of Adamawa State and
burnt down a Catholic seminary and houses in the area.

The Adamawa State Police Command confirmed the incident and said
the attackers destroyed several houses but that no life was
lost.

In a reaction to claims by the Catholic Church that the seminary
in the area was burnt down in the attack, the Police Public
Relations Officer, Othman Abubakar, said information available to
the force did not specify the number and identities of the burnt
buildings.

“There was an attack and houses were burnt down, but there was
no loss of live. But so far, we have deployed our men to restore
normalcy,” he said.

But the Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Yola, Stephen Mamza, who
confirmed the destruction of the seminary in Daso, lamented the
belated deployment of security personnel in the area.

He said the attackers came in their hundreds, adding that they
operated unhindered for several hours.

The police spokesman also noted that when soldiers were
contacted during the attack, they complained that they had no
vehicle.

Mamza said, “The soldiers contacted while the attack was going
on complained that they had no vehicle to promptly intervene. They
had no vehicles for God’s sake and there were only four policemen
stationed in that place and the attackers were up to 100.

“Our reverend father’s house was burnt and there’s no house
around that area standing now. They have burnt all the houses; all
my parishioners have left. Nobody can live there.

“About 50 per cent of the people have returned and reconstructed
their houses. The people are now back to square one, because their
houses have been destroyed completely.”

Bare has come under repeated attacks from suspected Fulani
herdsmen following clashes with the farming community over grazing
land.

Last October, the Ward Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party
in the area was killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen on his
farm.

Only last week, the Brigade Commander, 23 Armoured Brigade,
Brig. Gen. Bello Mohammed, stated that the military had
successfully quelled all herdsmen/farmers clashes in both Adamawa
and Taraba states.