Herdsmen kill 17 farmers, 3 hunters in Benue as 18 die from Boko Haram attack in Borno

MARKURDI, Benue, Nigeria – Few day to the general election, herdsmen and Boko Haram are still on rampage, causing mayhem in the middle belt and North-east. On Wednesday, 17 farmers were killed in Agatu Local Government Area, Benue State, when herdsmen invaded the area. Also killed were three Jukun hunters.

These were reported just as the Boko Haram sect killed 18 hewers of firewood and producers of charcoal in Koshegbe area, in Jere Local Government, Borno State. Commander, Operation Whirl-Stroke (OPWS) Nigerian Army, Major General Adeyemi Yekini who confirmed the Benue killing, said the attackers accessed the Agatu community through Loko in Nasarawa State.

According to him, the attack, started at 1 AM, when many residents were fast asleep. We gathered that many were wounded in the attack while scores of women and children were displaced. A survivor of the attack, Daddy Seni, whose father and siblings died in the onslaught said he left his father at Ebete on his way to Aloko for fishing when he received a phone call to turn back, that his father had been shot by Fulani herdsmen.

 “When I got there, I saw my father in a pool of blood. All he could say was “My son, don’t bother about me and your siblings again, ours has finished; we can’t survive these gunshots, run for your dear life to tell others about this,” he said before his fathered died.

Reacting to the incident, Chairman Agatu Local Government, Hon. Alhaji Oyigocho, said he hid in the bush and when he heard the killers speak Fulani language while trying to run from the scene. He said those murdered were three Jukun men who were hunting animals, while two others sustained serious gunshot wounds and were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.

He appealed to government to quickly come to their aid of the community. In his reaction, Governor Samuel Orthom condemned the renewed attacks in Benue. In a statement, Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the governor, Mr. Terver Akase, said this is quite unfortunate and condemnable.

“The government of Benue State condemns this and urges security agencies to mediate and move in to forestall further attacks on innocent people of Benue State; this is because we cannot afford to have another round of killings that we had in 2018.”