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Gunmen Kill 13 in Attacks on Benue Communities |
Makurdi—At least 13 people have been reported dead and one injured in two separate attacks by suspected armed herdsmen in the Agatu and Gwer West Local Government Areas of Benue State.
In the first attack, 12 individuals were killed on Sunday evening in an unprovoked assault by the marauders at Egwuma village in Agatu LGA. On the same evening, another person was killed at Tse Iyo in Sengev Council Ward of Gwer West LGA, where one person was injured and five others were declared missing.
Mr. Godwin Edoh, the lawmaker representing the Agatu state constituency, confirmed the attack and expressed his frustration over the continuous assaults on his constituents by armed herdsmen. He called on the government to take decisive action to end the senseless killings.
“12 people were killed in the attack. We are tired and the problem is still there, that is why I am complaining. The government has to be decisive on what to do about the area,” he said.
He added that the communities are highly vulnerable, with villages like Ogbumogbo, Ejima, and Ikpele deserted for nearly a year, effectively becoming a grazing ground for herdsmen.
“They come over with their cattle from morning and stay there to graze until they want to go back. They return anytime because the people have left the villages and nothing is being done about it,” he explained.
In Gwer West, a youth leader and survivor of the attack in Tse Iyo, Cheghza Igbasue, recounted how they were ambushed by the armed men while returning from the farm.
A source in the area reported, “The armed herders attacked and killed 30-year-old Ikyumbu Aondowase, while 45-year-old Mr. Achin Terzungwe was badly wounded and taken to Naka, the LGA headquarters, for treatment.”
