Gunmen kill 10 in Benue

Gunmen have killed at least 10 people and wounded many in fresh strikes in Logo and Ukum local government areas of Benue State.

Daily Trust reports that crisis between herders and local farmers have become a daily occurrence in the area for the past three weeks while the attackers within the past three days have allegedly sustained the siege on the affected communities.

The state command Police spokesman, ASP Moses Yamu, said he was not aware of any fresh attacks in the areas, adding that the stories making the round were past developments. “I have not been briefed about any fresh attack,” Yamu said.

But, a former government official who hails from Logo, Chief Joseph Anawah, said that five persons were killed in his vicinity between Saturday and yesterday. He said, “On Saturday, about 9:30am, the herders killed two people in their rice farm at Chembe settlement and wounded many who are now hospitalised. On Sunday, around 1pm, one person was killed in Mbawar and today (yesterday) another two persons have been killed.”

Anawah added that the attacks in his area were similar to Guerrilla warfare such that the farmers had abandoned their farms to save their lives. He worried that no security operatives had been drafted to the area.

Another local in Ukum who preferred to be referred to simply as Adakpe, said five people were killed in different villages of the local government area during the weekend.

Meanwhile, the state coordinator of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Garus Gololo, who had earlier blamed the incessant crisis on continuing reprisals from both warring factions, was yet to answer his call at the time of sending this report.