YAOUNDE, Cameroon – Armed men from Nigeria have killed at least five Cameroonian soldiers and wounded several others in the village of Bakinjaw on Cameroon’s border with Nigeria, a member of parliament for the district and a traditional leader said on Saturday.
It is the latest in a series of attempts to seize territory in the area, according to Reuters news agency.
Aka Martin Tyoga, MP for the district of Akwaya in southwestern Cameroon, where the incident took place, said that the attack happened early on Friday, when hundreds of armed Fulani herdsmen crossed the border from Nigeria’s Taraba state – to attack a military post.
Tyoga said it was a retaliation after Cameroonian soldiers killed several herdsmen the day before.
Agwa Linus, traditional ruler of Bakinjaw, said the attackers also burnt down his home.
“This is not the first time they are attacking – it’s very unfortunate,” Linus said.
The Fulani people are believed to be the largest semi-nomadic group globally, found across West and Central Africa. In Nigeria, some continue to live as semi-nomadic herders, while others have moved to cities.
Unlike city dwellers, the nomadic groups spend most of their lives in the bush and are often involved in clashes with farming communities and also engage in kidnapping for ransom. They herd their animals across vast areas, frequently clashing with local farmers.
Also in Nigeria, the herders bear sophisticated weapons and use them to terrorize many parts of the country, with security operatives ignoring many of the attacks for allegedly not getting orders to go after the criminals.
Several brutal attacks happened under former President Muhammadu Buhari, who was born to a Fulani family on 17 December 1942, in Daura, a town in Katsina State, northwest Nigeria.
The continuous unprovoked attacks triggered resistance in South-East region, inhabited by Igbo people and South-West region, inhabited by the Yoruba people.
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