30 feared killed in Benue communities by Fulani herders

No fewer than 30 people were feared killed with many sustaining varying degrees of injuries in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State, after suspected Fulani herdsmen in their large numbers sacked over 24 communities and villages in the area.

Some of the affected communities included Chembe, Tse-Mue, Tse-Shigbe, Mgbakpa and Oragbai all in Ukemberagya council ward, which is four kilometers away from Anyiin, Governor Gabriel Suswam’s country home.

The crisis, according to eyewitness started on Sunday night after the marauders besieged the area, shooting sporadically and burning down houses, huts and farmlands in the affected communities.

Reports from villagers indicate that at the time of filing this report, more bodies were still being recovered in the affected areas after nine corpses were allegedly recovered at the scene of attack about one week ago.

Following the development, Governor Gabriel Suswam, who also hails from the area had to pay an unscheduled visit to the affected communities yesterday, even as it was observed that the communities had remained deserted following the massive destruction of houses, schools and worship centres by the Fulani herders.

Daily Sun gathered that villagers in the affected communities had to flee their homes into different directions for safety while the herdsmen have continued grazing hundreds of their cows in the vicinity.

Suswam, while addressing a remnant of the people, who came out from their hidings, said he was in the area in company of all heads of security agencies in the state to see things for himself and to leave behind a combination of security forces to tackle the trouble makers, even as he assured them of his administration’s commitment to ensure safety of lives and property.

Also speaking, the Commissioner of Police, Hyacinth  Dagala, Commanding Officer of 72 Special Forces Battalion, Makurdi, Col. T. A Lagbaja and Deputy Director, State Security Services (SSS), Mr. Frank, advised the people not to take laws into their hands as they returned back to their homes and allow the security operatives to do their job.

Daily Sun, however, observed that many of the affected people no longer had homes to return to as the fresh invasion of their land, which is incidentally only four kilometres away from Suswam’s country home, Anyiin, had led to the destruction of everything they ever worked for including farm produce.