Again, bandits killed Seven more in Benue

In Benue State’s Logo Local Government Area, near Yongia Uambie Tiev in the Ukembrergya/Tswarev ward, seven persons have been killed by bandits.

Anawah Joseph, a community leader, claims that the incident occurred between Tuesday and Wednesday.

According to Anawah, a large group of terrorists with advanced weaponry arrived to target the neighborhood.

He said, “The Tuesday attack started around 4 pm and lasted till 8 pm. Then, on Wednesday, they resumed again, I don’t think they came to graze but to attack.”

He claimed that the attack claimed the lives of several persons.

The local government’s chairman, Rev. Adagbe Jonathan, confirmed the attack and stated that seven individuals had died over the course of the two days of the brutal assault.

He said, “It happened on Tuesday and Wednesday with seven casualties.

“On Tuesday, two were killed, and Wednesday evening, five were killed in Yongia Ukambie Tiev, Ukembrergya/Tswarev ward.

“The attacks were carried out by the herdsmen. Even when I went there on an assessment tour, they were still grazing on the other side of the road, claiming that the area was part of Taraba State.

“No one could just approach them. I’m even now in Makurdi, I reported to the Special Adviser on Internal Affairs and Security, Special Adviser, Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, and to the Permanent Secretary on Bureau of Internal Services.”

On Thursday, state Assembly lawmaker Abu Umoru, who represents the Apa State constituency, bemoaned the ceaseless attacks on his community and claimed he had lost track of the attacks’ casualties.

The congressman mentioned nine towns in the state’s Apa LGA that were left abandoned as a result of bandits’ attacks.

He said, “The entire Edikpo Community had been displaced, Opaha where I come from, nobody in is that community, Odugbo, nobody is there, Akpete, Ikobi, Akpata, Idiaha, Ochumekwu, Adiga nobody is in those communities.

“Every day, they burn houses in Akpete. As I speak to you, for three consecutive days, they have been going to Akpete and burning houses after chasing the dwellers out of their ancestral homes.

“They have been laying ambush, killing people, one, two three to five persons daily. Right now, I don’t know the number of casualties. There are so many.”

She did not answer her phone or reply to the text message sent to her cellphone, so attempts to reach SP Catherine Anene, the public relations officer for the state police, were unsuccessful.