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…Chops off teenager’s hand in Plateau
From Jude Dangwam, Jos
Nineteen-year-old Nenchin Joshua, from Sabon Layi community of Lakushi, in Shendam Local Government Area of Plateau State, will never forget the horrors of Monday, August 14, 2023. It was the day he lost his left hand to a ruthless 24-year-old Fulani herdsman, Abdulrahaman Kaila, for daring to stop his cattle from grazing and destroying their farm.
Nenchin, an SS1 student of Peace Comprehensive College, Sabon Layi, the second male child of his parents, had been engaged in menial jobs to support his mother, a widow. Having lost his father, his mother has been struggling to bring up the five children that the father left behind. His elder brother, the first son of the family, just completed his secondary school education this year.
Nenchi had been very supportive of his struggling mother, until Monday, August 14, when fate handed him a devastating blow. He was working on their farm alongside his mother and elder brother when Kaila emerged with his cattle and wanted to enter the farm to graze his herd. Nenchi’s attempt to stop him from grazing his cattle in their farm was what infuriated Kaila and brought out the animal in him. He drew his sword and, without batting an eyelid, chopped off Nenchi’s left hand.
Holding his chopped-off hand dripping with blood in his right hand, and with his hoe hung over his shoulder, Nenchi narrated to Daily Sun how it happened: “We heard people shouting and running after the Fulani herder who was running towards our direction with cows and wanted to enter our farm. We stopped the cows from entering our farm and asked him what happened. But instead of telling us what happened, he just removed his cutlass and cut off my hand, and took to his heels. People chased him but he managed to escape.”
Nenchi’s elder brother, Wuret Joshua, told Daily Sun the incident happened while they were working on their guinea corn farm that fateful Monday morning.
He said: “We were replanting guinea corn on the farm that fateful Monday around 11am when we saw cattle in their numbers. They ran into other farms and were about to destroy our farm before we stopped them.
“When the Fulani boy taking care of the cattle came and saw my brother standing and preventing the cattle from entering our farm, he pulled out his matchet. He wanted to cut off my brother’s head but he blocked with his hand up. And that was how his left hand was chopped off instantly. The attacker ran when he saw what he had done; I chased after him but he disappeared into other guinea corn farms around the place.”
He noted that, prior to the ugly incident, they had been battling with the unruly and wicked activities of the Fulani herders in the area; a situation he said that called for serious concern, even as he stressed that living with the Fulani herders henceforth would no longer be a wise decision.
“We are beginning to exercise fear of living with the Fulani again because they might do more than this by killing somebody tomorrow. The surprising thing is that these are Fulani that are living in Lakushi area here; there are not any strangers,” he lamented.
According to him, his younger brother is receiving medical attention.
“My younger brother is currently receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Shendam. Doctors said the hand cannot be connected again. They have dressed the wound, so we brought the chopped off hand home and buried it,” he said amid tears.
Wuret said what the family wants is to get justice for Nenchi. The family, according to him, wants the law to take its full course: “We really need justice. We also need help now because my brother cannot do anything with his two hands again. We are a family of five. Only two of us are males, the remaining three are females. Our father is dead and it has been our mother that has been struggling with us to keep the family going.
“My younger brother is just 19 years old. He is in SS1 at Peace Comprehensive College, Sabon Layi, Lakushi, in Shendam LGA of Plateau State. I just finished my secondary school. We need help in whatever way.”
Checks by Daily Sun revealed that the herders are camping on military land in Lakushi, from where they often move to graze in other communities and have so far inflicted pains on many other people before the latest incident.
Speaking to our reporter, a Lakushi resident, Mr. Joel Kazul, said the reckless activities of Fulani herders in the locality was unbecoming and must be adequately addressed before it gets out of hand.
He was of the opinion that, aside from the settlement of medical bills of the victim, the attacker and his family should be made to shoulder every bill that had to do with the education of the victim up to university level.
“The Fulani should pay the hospital bills, among other damages, and shoulder the education of the victim to the university level because the boy cannot do anything again with his two hands.
“What the Fulani boy did was not a mistake. It was a deliberate act. The Fulani have done so many wicked things to people, which were overlooked. With this, he can kill somebody tomorrow, if serious measures are not taken,” he said.
However, the combined efforts of security agencies eventually led to the arrest of the fleeing Kaila. His arrest has brought some sort of relief to the people.
Confirming his arrest by the Shendam Police Division, the police public relations officer in the state, Alfred Alabo, a deputy superintendent of police, said the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department at Police Headquarters, Jos, for further investigation.
Parading the suspect before journalists in Jos, Alabo said: “The suspect was apprehended on Tuesday, August 15, 2023, by the Shendam Divisional Police Officers. After all investigations against him, he will be charged to court.”
The swift response by the security agencies has brought some of relief in the state, following the disturbing video of the victim by members of the community, where his chopped hand was dripping with blood on the farm as he narrated the incident. The viral video on the Internet had roused anger and tension among the people but, with the culprit’s arrest, tension is coming down.
While answering questions from journalists at the Police Headquarters, Kaila admitted to committing the crime but claimed it was in self-defence.
He claimed that the victim chased him out of his farm even when his cattle had not touched his crops. He alleged that he attempted to injure him and in a bid to defend himself from him, he chopped off his hand.
“I was out for grazing that faithful Monday. I entered a path in-between two rice farms with my cows and the owner of the farm warned me, so I pleaded with him that I will turn the cows back.
“He started complaining that the cows were marching his crops and warned me that I shouldn’t anger him. I told him I’m sorry I will not pass through that path again. There was a vigilance group close there. They called him (farmer) and he said since they’re close-by, they should come and see for themselves.
“I now chased my cows out of the place and left. He followed me with a catapult and shot at me but it did not touch me. Then I ran away, but he followed me, and then the vigilantes blew their whistle and followed me too.
“I came and saw some people replanting guinea corn on their farm. They stopped me. Then one hit me on my back, and the other threw a stone at me on my head and I fell down.
“So, when I fell down, he came and wanted to hold me, but I didn’t know when I pulled my matchet out and cut him. He blocked it with his hand and it chopped off his hand, and from there I ran back home because I was afraid,” Kaila said.
It was gathered that the herder ran away leaving behind his cattle on the farm. It was the vigilantes that guarded his cattle until the military troops from Shendam Barracks intervened and took custody of the cattle, before the suspect was arrested and handed over to police for further investigation.
The suspect, when asked why he failed to report himself to the police following his actions and how he was arrested, said: “I ran away because at that time I was afraid. When my elder brother came home, I saw that he would suffer and decided it was better to go. So, my elder brother and I went to the soldiers’ barracks.”
