THE Benue State Emergency and Management Agency has said that 5,138 people were killed and 18 local government areas attacked by suspected herdsmen under Governor Samuel Ortom’s administration.
The Executive Secretary of Agency, Emmanuel Shior disclosed this on Monday, March 13 in Makurdi during a press briefing on the humanitarian situation in the state since the inception of Ortom’s administration seven years ago.
Shior stressed that 18 of the 23 LGAs of the state were attacked by suspected armed herders.
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He said that the breakdown of deaths was the one recorded since the assumption of Ortom in office.
Shior noted that the attacks led to the death of 1,177 and 809 people in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
He further revealed that 43 and 440 people were killed in 2017 and 2018.
The state recorded 174 deaths from herdsmen attacks in 2019; 88 in 2020; 2,131 in 2021; 172 deaths in 2022 and 104 since January 2023.
“So, in all, the total deaths since 2015 till date is 5,138,” Shior said.
The SEMA boss, however, lamented that there have been resurgence in the number of attacks since the February 25 presidential and National Assembly polls.
“There was more influx of herders since the presidential election because Ortom lost his senatorial election.”
He reiterated that incessant herdsmen attacks informed the Ortom administration’s decision to enact the anti-open grazing law.
“The state government also came out with livestock guards and Community Volunteers Guards to ensure the protection of lives and property, with all these measures, there is no end in sight,” he said.
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