On Tuesday, the youths of Atyap communities in the Zangon Kataf council area of Kaduna trekked 12km from Samaru to Zonkwa to protest the incessant killings in their communities.

The youths in thousands, all dressed in black, trekked for about two hours while others came from different Atyap communities and converged at the local government headquarters.

Solomon Kuyeh, chairman of the youth wing of the Atyap community development association, while addressing the crowd, explained that the protest was to bring the government’s attention to the unabated killings in Atyap communities.

Mr Kuyeh said that the Atyap communities had been experiencing coordinated attacks and destruction of properties for a long time without bringing the perpetrators to book.

He faulted the current herders-farmers’ clash narrative to the crises, stressing that people were being killed in their sleep.

“We feel abandoned by the government that has sworn an oath to protect the lives and properties of every citizen. We are concerned that in spite of the spate of attacks, none of the killers has been arrested,” Mr Kuyeh added. “Meanwhile, our youths have been arrested and tortured while trying to defend themselves. We are not only demanding for the perpetrators to be arrested to face the law, we are urging the government to end the killings and destruction of properties in our communities.”

The youth leader also called on the government to support the survivors with relief materials to cushion the economic hardship caused by the attacks.

The chairman of the council area, Francis Sani, said the attacks had created a huge population of widows and orphans. He consoled the people and assured them that the local government was trying to restore peace in the area.

Mr Sani promised to mobilise support from critical stakeholders to end the lingering attacks and prosecute the perpetrators.

(NAN)