- About five people have been feared dead in a fresh herdsmen attack on Benue community
- Benue state’s security adviser confirmed the death of two persons, a man and a woman
- The state’s police commissioner, however, said he was yet to confirm the killings
No fewer than five persons were feared dead at the weekend in a fresh attack on Umenge village in Guma local government area of Benue state by suspected herdsmen despite claims by security agencies that peace has returned to the state.
Note that Exercise Ayem Akpatuma (cat race), a Nigerian military spike operation, to stem the incursions of the herders is also ongoing in the state.
Vanguard reported that the victims who had successfully escaped alive early January when the community was attacked by herdsmen, met their death on Sunday, March 4, when they went back to assess the safety of their community in order to return back to their homes.
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A resident that spoke with Vanguard in anonymity narrated the ordeal: “They had gone to Umenge from the camps to ascertain whether they could go back home since the military had come to ensure the safety and protection of lives and property.
“Unfortunately, none of them made it back alive to the camp except a motorbike rider who managed to escape but others were not so lucky.
“The victims did not know that the herdsmen had laid an ambush for them and as soon as they were approaching the village, they opened fired on them killing five on the spot.”
The security adviser to the Benue state governor, Lt. Col. Paul Hemba (rtd.), reportedly confirmed the development.
He said his office could confirm the death of two persons, a man and a woman who were killed in the village by the armed herdsmen.
Col. Hemba explained that the herdsmen after chasing away the locals occupied the community and also took a strategic position on a hill in the village from where they monitored movements in the community.
He said: “The villagers were on a hike heading to Umenger which is close to Gbajimba that houses the headquarter of the Exercise Ayem A’ Akpatuma when the herdsmen who have occupied the area hid on a hill and attacked them killing two of the villagers while the motorcycle rider managed to escape.”
He added that the policemen posted to the village were complaining that they did not have a functional vehicle adding that the military had promised to go on operation there on Tuesday, March 6.
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Col. Hemba explained that corpses of the two deceased victims had been evacuated to Makurdi and deposited at the mortuary of the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH) Makurdi.
When contacted, the Benue state commissioner of police, Fatai Owoseni said he was yet to confirm the killings.
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had previously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari said that the number of persons killed in herdsmen and farmers clashes and other violent attacks in Mambilla plateau, Sardauna local government area of Taraba state, is more than those killed in Zamfara and Benue states combined.
Speaking in Jalingo on Monday, on Monday, March 5, during a meeting between the Fulani and Mambilla ethnic groups, Buhari said "he has a way of gathering his own information on all the crises and killings in the country.”
The president, who said he was in the state to condole with the government and those who lost their loved ones, described attacks and shedding of blood as unfortunate.
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Source: Naija.ng