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Fulani herders cut off farmer’s hand for allegedly refusing to help lift fallen cow in Plateau
A farmer identified as Yakubu Bitrus has lost a hand after a group of Fulani herdsmen allegedly attacked him and severed one of his hands after he allegedly declined their request to help lift a cow that had fallen into a ditch and got stuck.
Bitrus, who narrated his ordeal in a video clip shared on social media platforms on Friday in Agingi community of Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State, recounted how the herders attacked him after he initially declined their request to help lift the stuck cow.
The farmer, who narrated the incident while receiving treatment in a hospital, said the attack occurred as he and two women were returning from the farm.
He explained that the incident happened on Friday after he and the women arrived at their farm and worked until it was time to take a meal break.
He said during the break, a young herder approached them and said one of his cows had fallen. He requested their assistance in getting the animal back on its feet.
Bitrus said he explained to the herder that he was the only man with two women at the time and couldn’t leave them to go and help him remove the fallen cow. He said he advised the herder to contact other farmers nearby so that everyone could work together to lift the cow.
“The Fulani herder rejected my suggestion and insisted that the three of us should follow him immediately. He feared that the animal might die and warned me that if the cow dies, there would be a problem,” Bitrus said.
He narrated further that the situation suddenly became hostile when the herder began insulting him before chasing him with a stick and a cutlass.
“I had already noticed another person hiding nearby and realising that the herder was possibly not alone, I decided against confronting him and we ran away to avoid any fight,” he said.
He stated that they eventually found other people and returned to the area as a group to help the herders rescue the cow but noted that when they arrived, neither the herders nor the animal could be found.
“After waiting for about five minutes, we left for our different farms not knowing that the herdsmen had concealed themselves and were watching me and the two women from the point where we separated from the larger group.”
According to the farmer, on their way home after they had finished the day’s work, the attackers descended upon him and his wife.
“As we were going home, my wife decided to leave the road briefly to gather some firewood while I remained on the road with the other woman while waiting for her.”
Moments later, he said, he heard his wife screaming from the direction she had taken and he rushed to find out what could have happened to her, only to find the attackers assaulting her and striking her on the head.
Bitrus said he picked up a piece of wood and confronted the herdsmen and a struggle followed as he attempted to defend himself, protect his wife and create an opportunity to escape.
He said they initially fought with sticks but before he knew it, other herders came out from the bush and joined the others in beating him, with one of them using a machete to sever his hand before they fled into the bush.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has unveiled the final list of Lagos State governorship candidate.
The list is contained in a document released by INEC on Saturday in preparation for the 2027 general elections.
According to the document, the Lagos State deputy governor, Femi Hamzat is listed at the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Also on the list is Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour as the African Democratic Congress, ADC, candidate.
Find attach below document containing the full list.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has omitted former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, from its final list of governorship candidates for Gombe State ahead of the February 6, 2027 election.
Politics Nigeria reports that the commission released a list of 16 cleared candidates for the election, but Pantami’s name was missing despite his earlier inclusion in the provisional list published on August 29.
Among the candidates on the final list are Bala Bello Tinka of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Babayo Ardo Kumo of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC).
Others include Zubairu Mu’azu Halilu of the Labour Party (LP), Lamela L. Silas of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Ibrahim Jalo Abubakar of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Adamu Mohammed Ma’aji of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Pantami’s exclusion comes amid a series of legal disputes over his emergence as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the state.
The former minister had initially sought the APC governorship ticket but left the party after it settled for Gwamna as its consensus candidate. He subsequently joined the PDP and emerged as the party’s flag bearer through voice affirmation at its governorship primary.
However, a Federal High Court sitting in Gombe nullified his initial emergence on May 26, following a challenge to the primary process.
The court ordered a fresh primary election, which Pantami won on September 29 with 2,054 votes, defeating Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki and Usman Aliyu Garry.
Garry had challenged Pantami’s emergence, arguing that the required primary election was not properly conducted before the former minister was declared the party’s candidate.
Despite winning the court-ordered rerun, Pantami’s eligibility remained in doubt following the Supreme Court’s September 24, 2026 judgment on provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 governing political party membership registers and candidate eligibility.
The Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) of the Electoral Act 2026 and upheld INEC’s revised timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 elections.
The provisions bar political parties from fielding candidates whose names were not included in the membership registers submitted to INEC within the stipulated period.
INEC has maintained that parties found to have violated the requirements will not be permitted to participate in the elections through candidates whose nominations breach the law.
Mohammed Haruna, an INEC national commissioner in charge of information and voter education, said the commission would not allow parties to replace candidates affected by the provisions.
Haruna made the clarification during an appearance on Trust TV’s programme on Wednesday evening, explaining that allowing substitutions would enable political parties to benefit from their own violations.
He cited previous disputes involving Zamfara and Plateau states to illustrate the consequences of parties failing to comply with electoral requirements.
“It’s like you committed an offence. And then, you come and benefit from it,” Haruna said.
He added that allowing parties to substitute candidates in such circumstances would amount to permitting them to benefit from an offence they had committed.
Haruna also indicated that the commission expected to make a definite pronouncement on the implications of the Supreme Court judgment by the following Tuesday.
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