Unending bloodshed as Fulani herdsmen continue with the mass-murder of Nigerian farmers.

On the night of 16 December 2016, armed Fulani herdsmen invaded Tiv Villages near a town called Dananacha in Taraba state, Nigeria. They killed more than twenty persons and wounded many. The attack resumed the following night and, this time, extended into Dananacha proper. 42 bodies were recovered as at 18 December and the search for the missing persons is continuing.

This is just one of such killing sprees by Fulanis in the last quarter of this year alone. The people of the southern part of Kaduna state suffered massive attacks from Fulani herdsmen/militias within the same period, with well over one hundred persons killed. "Fulani herdsmen", as they are popularly called, have become the Janjaweed of Nigeria, killing helpless farmers in their homes and on their farms with dastardly impunity. They not only kill, they burn homes, food stores and crops on the farms.

So far, the Federal govt under President Mohammadu Buhari has shown clearly that the Fulani herdsmen' s massacre of farmers is not a serious security challenge deserving serious attention from security forces. In fact, the president has declared through his interior minister that the military will not be used against the killer herdsmen. The irony in that declaration is that the same president on resumption of office immediately launched a Military Task-force to protect cattle from armed bandits in the north western part of the country. He wore military uniform to attend the launching. On the other hand, complete silence or vague statements remain his mode of responses to any of the daily incidents of the ongoing mass-killing of farmers by Fulani herdsmen.

As is always the case, the Dananacha massacre is being deliberately screened from the public as neither the Taraba state nor federal govt has made any statement on the matter. The mainstream media in the country has also developed cold feet in reporting happenings that govt does not want the public to know about-especially where Fulani herdsmen are the suspected culprits in any acts of violence against people outside the core northern part of the country. Nigerian farmers, particularly those in the Middle Belt, have been targeted for annihilation by Fulani herdsmen who have combined with their foreign kinsmen and are now occupying many villages in remotes parts of the region-having killed and displaced the owners.

The Darfur scenario is steadily unfolding here in Nigeria.

Some of the dead from the Dananacha massacre of 16 and 17 December 2016.