News reaching ViewPointNigeria indicates that after a long period of lull and relative peace, Fulani herdsmen struck again in Zim community in Ropp District of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State on Tuesday 17th May 2016.

The attack, said to have happened at 7:30 pm bore the usual trade-mark of clandestine-ness and surprise, where innocent people are taken unawares and the ensuing confusion exploited to wreak severe havoc.

The attack claimed the life of a 28 year old man, Mr. Dazi Bulus, who was shot at point blank range as he attempted to flee the attackers.

Several other people including women and children were injured with various degrees of injury as they attempted to flee. At the time of filing this report, several residents were said to have fled their homes for fear of follow-on attacks.

ViewPointNigeria’s Analysis

This is the first successful attack carried out by Fulani herdsmen this second quarter of 2016 (i.e., Q2 2016). The last attack on a Plateau village occurred on 15th February 2016 at Kwall village of Bassa Local Government area, when gunmen invaded the Nigerian College of Accountancy, killing two students and injuring scores. Before that attack, several others were recorded in January 2016 around Kwata village of Zawan district.

In the period of relative peace in Plateau state (i.e., February – May 2016) – severe attacks were recorded in Benue state (Agatu community), where herdmen killed over 300 people and then subsequently in Enugu and River states where many were killed using sophisticated weapons.

With the progressive movement of the attacks from the middle-belt to the South, it suggests that the herdsmen are widening their strategy beyond Plateau and the middle-belt. And so an attack such as this – where a small community  (Rim) is attacked is an outlier or an anomaly. In the near-term, we expect these fringe and lone-wolf attacks on Plateau communities to remain sporadic and not as constant as we saw in 2013 and 2014, where attacks were weekly and and even bi-weekly in some cases.

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Fulani herdsmen attack community in Plateau state