No fewer than 50 persons have been killed in fresh attacks on Benue communities by suspected Fulani herdsmen after they invaded parts of the Guma and Logo Local Government Areas of the state on New Year’s Day.
The attacks, which spilled over to Tuesday, came on the heels of the implementation of the anti-open grazing law, which the Fulani herdsmen considered detrimental to their means of livelihood.
The invading herdsmen were said to have attacked Gaambe-Tiev, Ayilamo and Turan villages in Logo LGA on New Year’s Day at the time the people were returning from the New Year’s service.
The assailants were said to have descended on the communities around 9pm on Monday and continued the attack till around 4am on Tuesday, shooting indiscriminately and burning down houses and huts.
A source, who spoke to one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity, said, “There were coordinated attacks on five communities by the well-armed herdsmen who stormed our villages in large number, around 10pm to 4am.
They would enter any particular compound, and knock at the door. Once you open your door, they will capture you and slaughter you.
“As I speak with you, the affected villages have been deserted and the invaders have taken over and are razing the ancestral homes of the people who have fled from the areas to other towns in their thousands, for fear of being killed.
Dr. Gajir Tsoho of the Department of Surgery, BSUTH, who spoke with newsmen, disclosed that over 30 victims of the attack were receiving treatment at the teaching Hospital with many corpses already deposited at the morgue of the hospital.
Among the dead brought to the hospital during the visit of The PUNCH on Tuesday were a father and his two-year-old son as well as a young man said to have just returned home after completing his National Youth Service Corps.
Ortom fumes, calls for FG’s intervention
Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, who did not give the number of casualties while speaking with newsmen, blamed security agents for not taking decisive action to curb the attacks on the people.
Speaking after the State Security Meeting in Makurdi, Ortom said that no matter the level of intimidation and killings by the herdsmen, the anti-open grazing law would not be reversed or repealed.
The governor stated that security agents were informed ahead of time before the Fulani herders came to attack the people.
He added, ‘’This is unfortunate. The security agencies of this country are aware of what is happening in Benue. So many people are being killed, many houses destroyed, some innocent children were slaughtered, other sliced in the throat just because they want to be law abiding.
“Even amongst the livestock guards, who were there to ensure that there are no clashes, nine of them were killed and innocent women and children were killed. This is not fair.”
Ortom, who addressed journalists after visiting some of the victims receiving treatment at the BSUTH, Makurdi, called on the Federal Government to provide protection for the people of Benue to show that they were also Nigerian citizens.
“We must rise up; Nigerians must rise up; the Federal Government must rise up to protect us because this is not right. They (FG) own the security apparatus. The ones that are here are doing their best but there should be more and that is what we are calling for,” the governor said.