Some youth leaders in Faan District of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State have raised the alarm over what they described as the unprecedented influx of Fulani herdsmen into their communities.
The youth leaders said the herdsmen are coming from neighbouring states like Nasarawa and Bauchi.
They expressed concern that the influx could be a precursor to renewed attacks, following relative calm in the last few weeks.
A youth leader in one of the communities that make up the district, John Davou, who raised the alarm in a telephone chat with DAILY POST on Friday, said in the last two weeks, hundreds of herders have been sighted moving into the rocks surrounding the communities, along with thousands of their cattle.
Davou said in the past, such an influx of herders would not have raised any concern, as it was the pattern of pastoralists to move to new areas after the local farmers had harvested their crops.
He urged security agencies to take note of the development and move fast to forestall any attacks.
“Back in the days while we were growing up, we did not see the coming of Fulani herdsmen as anything to worry about. We had good friends among them and we always looked forward to their coming after harvest.
“But with what has been happening in the last two decades where the bandits among them have turned our communities into their killing fields with incessant violent attacks and the destruction of our villages, we are worried about the influx this time around.
“We are hereby calling on security agencies, especially the Barkin Ladi sector of the Operation Enduring Peace, to be proactive and increase the security in our local communities in case these people are up to something nasty,” Davou added.
