Gwagwalada Group Cries Out Over Herdsmen Killings, Demands Urgent Government Action to Prevent Another Massacre
A civic group under the Gwagwalada Chapter of the Everybody Must Serve Movement has sounded the alarm over what it describes as a “systematic campaign of terror” allegedly perpetrated by suspected Fulani herdsmen in rural communities across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
In a strongly worded statement signed by its spokesperson, Shammah Manasseh, the group condemned the repeated and intensifying attacks in areas like Paiko, Ibwa, and Dobi.
The statement decried the displacement, trauma, and fear being experienced by local residents while accusing the authorities of complete silence and inaction.
According to the group, the rising violence and lack of official response have created a dangerous precedent that, if left unchecked, could turn Gwagwalada into another epicenter of bloodshed.
Highlighting previous deadly incidents in places like Agatu and Guma in Benue, Obi and Awe in Nasarawa, Nimbo in Enugu, and Owo in Ondo, the group warned that Gwagwalada could soon be added to the list of Nigerian communities devastated by unprovoked violence.
The group claims that what is unfolding is not just random banditry or conflict but an orchestrated effort to displace indigenous landowners and erase ancestral communities.
“What we are witnessing is a systematic campaign of terror, masked under the silence of government and the cowardice of compromised local leadership,” the statement read.
“In Paiko, Ibwa, Dobi, and surrounding rural wards, our farmers are being hunted down in their own farmlands. Homes are raided. Lives are taken. Entire villages are traumatised. Yet, the security architecture has remained limp, unresponsive, and indifferent as though the lives of the original people here mean nothing.”
The group accused Nigeria’s political class of betrayal through silence and complicity, suggesting that many have traded their constituents’ safety for personal political rewards. “The political elite have become spectators. Their silence is betrayal. Their inaction is complicity. Many have traded the safety of their constituents for appointments, contracts, and access,” the statement added.
As part of their demands, the group called for an immediate and public investigation into the ongoing attacks, a state of emergency security response across affected communities, and the prosecution of those responsible for the violence regardless of ethnicity or affiliation. They also urged for regional security cooperation between the FCT and surrounding states to preempt further coordinated attacks.
Another key demand was for community-led security outfits to be recognised and supported by law. “We remember Agatu and Guma in Benue, Obi and Awe in Nasarawa, Nimbo in Enugu, Owo and Ose in Ondo. And we will not wait for Gwagwalada to be added to the list of mass graves before we act.”
The statement concluded with a powerful call to action: “This is not just about cattle or grazing. This is about a war against the landowners of Nigeria, and the silence of the state in the face of it. The indigenous people of Gwagwalada will rise. We will organise. We will resist. Because our silence today will be our extinction tomorrow.
“Let this statement serve as a reminder to the federal government, the FCT administration, and all who are watching silently the people are awake. And we will take back what belongs to us.”
