The Hausa-Fulani Community of Tingno in Lamurde Local Government Area of Adamawa State, said Thursday that it lost a total of 73 members following the violence that erupted in two places in the town last month.
Violence had broken out between the Hausa-Fulani community and its Chobo neighbours on May 15, causing deaths and destruction of valuables.
The Hausa-Fulani Community, which held a press briefing at the state capital, Yola on Thursday, alleged that it lost 58 people in an initial series of killings in Tingno town and 15 others in neighbouring Chito-Tudu and Chito-Gangare villages.
Spokesman of the Hausa-Fulani Community, Alhaji Aliyu Tingno, who delivered the text of the briefing Thursday afternoon, alleged that the police victimized the community because while operatives of the police arrested 57 people from its side, they arrested none from the Chobo side.
He said, “The Adamawa State Police Command arrested and detained 57 innocent Hausa-Fulanis out of which the state Commissioner of Police on 1st June 2020 paraded 18 at the police headquarters in Yola before journalists as culprits.”
He added that the police did this although, according to him, “it was the Chobos that attacked and killed Hausa-Fulanis and destroyed their properties in Tingno and Chito villages.”
Responding to the allegations Thursday evening, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Suleiman Nguroje, said arrests were made as they were deemed necessary, and that investigations were still on.
The police image maker assured that even among those who had been arrested, none would be unjustly prosecuted.
He added that in any case, the state government had set up a fact-finding committee, which would shed further light on the incident.
Asked to speak on the alleged 73 deaths, the PPRO said the initial report which includes casualty figures was before the state governor and the Inspector General of Police.
