March 2022 Kagoro killings

Between March 20 and 21, 2022, armed gunmen described as Fulani militants attacked several villages within Kagoro Chiefdom in Kaura Local Government Area, Kaduna State, Nigeria, including Ungwan Kule, Kanwai, Tsongai, Adan, Madamai, and Agban. The attacks left at least 34 people dead, though some residents said they had buried at least 40 bodies. Around 30 people were injured, and more than 200 houses along with 32 shops were destroyed.

The attacks occurred against a long-running backdrop of conflict between Fulani pastoralists and farming communities in Southern Kaduna, a conflict that in recent years has taken on characteristics of banditry seen elsewhere in northern Nigeria. Earlier related violence included an August 2021 attack on the village of Malamai that displaced residents, some of whom fled to Mallagun 1 and Sokong, which were themselves attacked in December 2021. Tsongai had also been attacked previously in February 2022. Residents of the targeted villages said militants had warned them in advance that attacks were coming in late March 2022, and many were on alert, though no attack occurred on March 18, 19, or during the day of March 20.

According to Matthias Siman, chairman of Kaura LGA, the militants arrived in three 18-seater buses at around 7 p.m. on March 20. Survivors said Kanwai was the first village attacked, at roughly 7:30 p.m., after sporadic gunfire had been heard around 6 p.m. Militants reportedly attacked in response to the earlier deaths of three cows and destruction of four motorcycles by villagers. They split into groups, struck multiple parts of each village, and blocked roads into Kagoro town, firing on passing civilians. Nigerian soldiers stationed in the area under Operation Safe Haven reportedly fled with civilians, and three soldiers were said to have been killed while fighting back.

The next day, survivors reported finding eight bodies in Kanwai before news arrived that militants were returning, prompting further flight. Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai then ordered a 24-hour curfew across Kaura and Jema'a LGAs.

In the aftermath, the head of Adan village, Dakaci Yashan, said in a 2023 interview that 34 people had died across the attacks and that 109 houses in Adan had been burned, though no deaths occurred there. Injured survivors were treated at the ECWA Health Center in Kagoro town, while displaced residents sought shelter in nearby villages and at Kagoro town hall, which served as an informal camp for internally displaced persons.

Violence in the area continued afterward: on April 17, 2022, militants attacked the nearby village of Maraban Agban, killing two people and injuring 15. In December 2022, Madamai and other villages were attacked again, resulting in more than 46 deaths.