Benue: Agatu on edge over renewed attacks
Tears have continued to flow from residents of rural communities in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State as renewed attacks by armed invaders snuffed lives out of their loved ones.
Our correspondent reports that in the series of the latest attacks which began on January 18, 2024, more than 40 people have lost their lives including three security operatives - two soldiers and one civil defence officer - who paid the supreme price in the line of duty.
Of the number of casualties, at least 10 were killed after the attackers invaded three communities of Ogwumogbo, Ikpele and Ejima, while 15 others were hacked to death in the small village of Ugboju Omaga and the over 12 others recovered in different affected villages.
Sadly, some missing persons’ whereabouts are yet to be ascertained even as the attacks had been blamed on suspected armed herders who in the past were also allegedly identified in Agatu carnages by the victims.
The latest crisis bedevilling the Agatu people has left villages like Ogwumogbo, Ikpele and Ejima, Okokolo, Olegomakwu, Olegonyilo, Nahem, Ocholonya, Abugbe, Ugboju, Odugbeho and Olegobidu, among others, sacked with several of their people killed.
As at Thursday, 15 dead bodies were recovered from the invasion on Ugboju Omaga community in Agatu while the search for several other people said to be missing was still ongoing.
A villager who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity said they are helpless over the situation as needed help to stem the tide was not in sight.
“What have we done to deserve such bloody invasion in our home land?” he asked angrily.
A community leader, Prince Inalegwu Adagole Simon, who hails from the affected Ugboju Omaga village narrated to our correspondent in Makurdi that the attackers besieged them (villagers) around 3pm on Wednesday unexpectedly and opened gunfire on the residents.
In the same vein, a youth leader in Agatu, Dele Agogo, said that the attackers had invaded several villages in their large numbers and opened fire on the people who were taken unawares either about dawn or dusk.
Agogo explained that the cause of the present crisis was unknown because the villagers had no previous disagreement with the herders except that he could only suspect that the attacks might be a spill over from the recent mayhem which occurred in two villages of Kogi State bordering Agatu.
“I can say that the present challenge started from Kogi and penetrated into Benue. As at today (Thursday) we have also heard rumours that the attackers will get into Oweto but for now, we leave everything to divine intervention.
“They have attacked Ejima, Okpokpolo, Ugboju, Okokolo and many other villages but the crisis started between two villages in Kogi State and some herders; and then it spread to Benue but we don’t know what we have done to the attackers,” Agogo further explained.
Also, a community leader, Sunday Anteyi, observed that the armed herders were the one terrorising his people of Agatu North and Agatu West, noting that Agatu Central has record of minimal invasions.
He said, “We in Agatu Central, because of the federal road passing through our area, don’t experience much attack like the Agatu North and West. So, as we speak, they have been terrorising villages in those affected areas.
“Surprisingly, we don’t have any particular disagreement with them and this has been their way of carrying out attacks - it’s still the same pattern of what they did years back that they are doing now. They will relax for sometimes and come back to attack.
“They continued intermittently to launch attacks on Agatu villages, killing people and destroying property. It actually came to a crescendo because of the anti open grazing law enactment years back which made them very angry. Since then, they have been angry with us.”
“We are waiting for military reinforcements,” another local who preferred anonymity simply said.
For the member representing Agatu constituency in the State House of Assembly, Godwin Edoh, the fresh killings had not only devastated his constituents but caused him personal
frustration.
He said there’d been fears in recent times that the attackers were coming to the next villages of Warri, Ekwo and Okpanchenyi such that the villages are now deserted, leaving only a few youths behind.
The lawmaker said that Ogwumogbo, Ejima Gega, Ejima Geche, Okpokpolo, Ikpelle Gochi and Ikpelle Gope villages were already displaced, and the villages next to them see themselves as the next targets. This has made residents to flee for their dear lives.
He however expressed worry that there was no response from any quarter even when another village in Agatu North called Ugboju Omaga was attacked with 15 people reportedly killed, apart from the many killed in other villages in the last two weeks.
Edoh said, “As a representative of my people, I’m frustrated by their cries. I have forwarded all the above (gory photos of dead bodies recovered) to the WhatsApp lines of both Governor Hyacinth Alia and his Deputy Sam Ode.
“Our cries to government and other agencies for help have fallen on deaf ears. So, we in Agatu have been left to the mercy of God. What have my people done to this government in the state and at the federal level. I totally condemn this attack on innocent people of Agatu by armed herders who are bent on taking over and occupying our ancestral home by force.”
Meanwhile, spokesperson of the Police in Benue, Catherine Anene, said she was yet to receive information about the incidents from the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Agatu.
“Let’s wait for the DPO, I will confirm from him. As we speak, there are so many police teams deployed to Agatu. I don’t have any information about what triggered the crisis but I will take time to find out,” Anene said.
She could not, however, confirmed the incidents as at the time of filing this report.
But Force Commander of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), Major General Sunday Igbinomwanhia, had earlier confirmed that three members of his troop were killed while repelling an attack on a rural community in Agatu.
Igbinomwanhia in a statement made available to journalists in Makurdi, said, “On 18 January 2024, troops of Operation Whirl Stroke deployed at Akwu in Agatu LGA of Benue State were alarmed with the presence of people fleeing from Okokolo Community in the same LGA.
“On inquiry, the troops were informed that terrorists suspected to be armed herdsmen were advancing towards the town to attack it. The troops immediately mobilised and proceeded to the community which is about 15 km from their base.
“On arrival, the troops encountered the bandits carrying out attack on the community and subsequently engaged the criminals in a gun duel that lasted for three hours.
“The attack was successfully repelled with the terrorists withdrawing in disarray while evacuating their dead and wounded.
“The success achieved was however at a huge cost with three of the troops paying the supreme sacrifice to prevent the killing of the inhabitants of Okokolo and the intended sacking of the community. In addition to the death of the two soldiers and one Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps personnel, two other soldiers were wounded and immediately evacuated to the Nigerian Air Force hospital in Makurdi.”
He added that in a swift reaction to the gallantry exhibited by the troops of OPWS, the Executive Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia represented by the Deputy Governor, Barr. Sam Ode and the Force Commander OPWS visited the troops on Friday January 19, 2024.
The force commander said that the team were received by the Chairman Agatu LGA, Yakubu Ochepo, and traditional rulers of communities in the LGA, during which the governor commiserated with troops of Sector 5 OPWS and the entire OPWS troops.
He assured the Joint Task Force of the continual support of the State Government and promised to assist in the treatment of the wounded.
The force commander also commended the troops and encouraged them to put the set back of the loss of their colleagues behind and remain focused on the mission of ridding the Joint Operations Area of the force of all criminality.
Igbinomwanhia also used the opportunity to intimate the troops of the support of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in the conduct of their operations, adding that the troops were also informed of the speedy recovery of the wounded soldiers taken to the hospital as a result of the incidence.
The force commander assured the governor of the commitment of the Force to continue to carry out the mandate and mission of the OPWS as aptly directed by the CDS for the security of life and properties in the Force Joint Operations Area as he stressed that further operations are already on to track the assailants to their hideout.