On Saturday, six young farmers from the Godogodo area went to their farms together. They were attacked by armed Fulani men who shot at them and hacked at them with machetes. Some of the farmers managed to escape, suffering from bullet wounds. However, on Sunday, a search party discovered the six victims dead, their bodies "ridden with bullets and machete cuts." The police transported their remains to the mortuary in Kafanchan.
13 Aug 2016 · Godogodo, Jema'a, Kaduna
Deaths
6
Kidnapped
0
Total casualties
6
Perpetrators
Communal/Ethnic Militias
Response
SP Aliyu Usman, spokesman for the Kaduna State Police Command, confirmed the killings and stated that some arrests had been made. He added that "further security measures have been implemented to calm the growing tension in the area." Dr. Haruna Usman, Chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, alleged that the herdsmen were on a "revenge mission" following the earlier killing of one of their leaders in the area. He insisted that the herdsmen were not "crazy enough" to kill indiscriminately without provocation.
Displacement
1000
Socioeconomic drivers
Killing the "youth vanguard" of the community—males aged 17 to 35—to weaken the village's future defense and economic viability. Forcing farmers to abandon "frontier" fields so they can be converted into grazing routes.
Trajectory
This was the bloodiest week for Jema’a in August 2016. It showed that even though villages like Gada Biyu were "secured" by police, the farmlands continued to be a "Killing Field."
Cycle notes
Mirrored earlier targeted attacks on farmers and rural livelihoods in north-central Nigeria—such as the 24–26 February 2016 Agatu massacre and recurring violence across southern Kaduna between 2011 and 2015—reflecting a persistent pattern of assaults on agricultural activity aimed at disrupting farming cycles and displacing communities; it also aligns with a broader trajectory seen in later incidents like 2024 Kajuru/Kachia, illustrating a sustained strategy of targeting farmers in fields to undermine food security, assert territorial control, and entrench insecurity in agrarian communities.
Pattern
Herdsmen-Farmer Conflicts
Related — Communal Violence
A suicide bomber drove a Honda Civic laden with explosives into the Living Faith Church (Winners‘ Chapel) in the Yelwa Tudun area of Bauchi, Bauchi State. Security personnel stationed nearby tried to stop the vehicle at a checkpoint, but the bomber refused to halt, crashing through the gate. He detonated the device at the iron barricade, causing a massive explosion that also damaged the adjacent Harvest Field Church, collapsing part of its wall on worshippers inside. According to the Bauchi State Police Commissioner, the bomber died on the spot, along with at least nine worshippers. However, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) later confirmed a higher toll, alleging that while 12 died from the blast, an additional 8 were shot dead by soldiers who arrived to secure the scene, raising the total to 20. In total, 45 people were reported injured, including 25 from the explosion and 20 from gunfire. The attack was followed by immediate reprisal protests by angry Christian youths in the Yelwa area, prompting security forces to deploy to prevent a wider sectarian conflagration. An unexploded IED was later found hidden under a bridge and was safely detonated by police.
A religious riot erupted in the town of Tafawa Balewa in Bauchi State. The immediate cause was a dispute between Muslims and Christians over the use of the municipal abattoir (slaughterhouse). Christians used the facility to slaughter pigs and dogs, which Muslims consider ritually impure. Christians refused a local government proposal to move their slaughtering to a different location. The spark ignited a fierce confrontation that quickly escalated. Fighting spread to the state capital, Bauchi city, the next day, when Muslims saw the bodies of their co‑religionists in the morgue. The violence lasted for several days and included the burning of at least a dozen churches and the destruction of numerous homes and businesses.
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