The untold story of Kaltungo and Dadiya communal clash
The cause of the attacks is the hunger for land, manifesting in the desire of the Kaltungo, Ture, and Shongom people to expand beyond their borders into other people’s territories from all directions. For instance, communities like the Bangunji, Kushi, Pero and Burak all in Shongom LGA, have had their lands largely taken over by […]
The cause of the attacks is the hunger for land, manifesting in the desire of the Kaltungo, Ture, and Shongom people to expand beyond their borders into other people’s territories from all directions. For instance, communities like the Bangunji, Kushi, Pero and Burak all in Shongom LGA, have had their lands largely taken over by the Shongom people.
Similarly, the Kamo Awak and even the Tula in Kaltungo LGA have their land taken over or largely encroached upon by the Ture and Kaltungo people. The fact that these communities did not resist, the Ture and Kaltungo became emboldened to go further into Tangale and Dadiya Chiefdoms.
In Dadiya Chiefdom, Kaltungo and Ture people gradually encroached over the years and established a settlement in Kaluwa village, claiming that it is their own land. Kaltungo LGA established a primary school in Kaluwa, with signboards all over the place to show their effective occupation, whereas the place, Kaluwa, is in Dadiya chiefdom. The Dadiya people have kept mum on the issue of Kaluwa and so, the people of Kaltungo and Ture felt that the Dadiya have surrendered and that what they needed to do was to press further into Dadiyaland, leading to the crises that has been breaking out since 2007.
The Kamba family in Lochinto Village, Dadiya Chiefdom, yielded to a request from one kofur, a Kaltungo man living in Molding village, a neigbouring village to allow him build a house on a portion of their family farmland. The Kamba family farm land is just a part of an expansive fertile land where other families in Lochinto village cultivate. When Kofur got settled and was given some areas of his back yard to cultivate, his other kinsmen started coveting the whole area.
Consequently, a group of people comprising Ngune Adamu, Istifanus Kumo, Epeso Lapede and Samanja Galadima all from Molding village in Kaltungo Chiefdom ganged up to sue the Kamba family claiming that the entire lands located in Dadiya Chiefdom was their own . Collectively, they took the case to an upper Area Court in their own chiefdom (Kaltungo town) while the land is in Dadiya Chiefdom, Balanga LGA. The presiding judge, in 1993 ruled against the group from Kaltungo and gave the farmland to Kamba family. After judgment, Kofur and his children decided to migrate back to his original Molding village leaving the Kamba family land in Dadiya.
After 14 years (precisely 2007), another group from the same Molding village in Kaltungo Chiefdom took the case of the same farmland to the same upper Area Court that passed the judgment in 1993 at Kaltungo.
This time around, the group included Istifanus Zakka, Albert Ali, Samuel Caleb, Momoh Kwalde and Husseini Emmanuel all of Kaltungo. The presiding Upper Area Court judge, Alhaji Mohammad Gombe, discovered that the case had already been decided by a previous Judge in his court, and consequently decided that the same court cannot review a case it ruled. This is to say that the land belongs to the Kamba family in Dadiya Chiefdom.
Thus, rather than going to a higher court to pursue their case, against the Upper Area Court ruling on the 14th of May, 2007, the Ture, Kaltungo and Shongom all of the Kaltungo Chiefdom decided to take the law into their hands by declaring war on Dadiya people. Immediately, the Kaltungo settlers in Lawushi village in Lofiyo village area of Dadiya Chiefdom, on a tip off, relocated to Kaltungo Chiefdom. Unknown to the people of Dadiya plans have already been concluded to attack them.
Thus, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of may 2007 hundreds of youths from Ture, Kaltungo and Shongom as well as hired mercenaries from Dogon Ruwa, a settler community in Kaltungo Chiefdom armed with jerry can of petrol and dangerous weapons invaded Dadiya village of Lofiyo, Loyilme, Langwalak, Chinto, and Lokobuwa, burning houses and killing people. At the end of the three days attack 632 houses were burnt to ashes, hundreds of bags of foodstuff as well as animals were carted away and five people, two men and three women were killed.
The second attack on the Dadiya was on the 27th may, 2009. This time around, seven villages were burnt including several churches. What actually worried many was the violation of terms of reconciliation initiated by the most respected Rev. (DR) Simon Ibrahim which involved ECWA pastors as well as the national leadership of ECWA.
On the 6th to the 9th of February, 2010 the Kaltungo, Ture and Shongom attacked the people of Dadiya again despite the peace reconciliation meeting held between them. The Dadiya people of Lofiyo village organized a community work to rebuild Langwalak, one of the villages burnt twice. Having completed their reconstruction work, the Kaltungo people again got the village burnt down for the third time on Saturday the 6th of February. This triggered anger among the entire Dadiya community. The Dadiya youths decide to retaliate by burning Kaluwa village, a predominantly Kaltungo and Ture settlement located in Dadiya Chiefdom. The Kaltungo, Ture and Shongom were enraged and as usual, mobilized their youths in thousands to Dadiya for another round of attack.
What brought out clearly the expansion agenda of the people of Kaltungo Chiefdom is the claim that Langwalak village in Dadiya Chiefdom is part of Kaltungo land. The massive influx of Kaltungo militant on the 6th-9th of February 2010 and the massive destruction of properties of the Dadiya people was in line with their desire to push the Dadiya people away from Gombe State to join their kinsmen in Taraba State, so that they (Kaltungo, Ture and Shongom), would annex and take over all of Dadiya land as they have done to other neigbouring communities earlier mentioned. But this objective of annexing parts of Dadiyaland into Kaltungo Chiefdom largely remains the factor in the determination of peace between the Dadiya people of Balanga LGA and the Kaltungo, Ture and Shongom people of Kaltungo and Shongom LGAs.
Lodiya sent in this piece from Dadiya, Gombe state