At least 17 persons have been confirmed dead after droves of herdsmen attacked five communities in Benue State following the kick-off of the newly-enacted anti-open grazing law in the state.
According to Punch, the affected communities are Gaambe-Tiev, Ayilamo and Turan all in Logo Local Government Area, as well as Umenger, Tse-Akor and Tomatar near Tse-Abi in Nongov District of Guma LGA.
Witnesses said the coordinated attacks began around 9 pm on Monday and continued until the early hours of Tuesday as the herders had a field day killing people and burning down houses without any intervention by security agencies.
“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,” an unnamed source was quoted as saying.
“It’s a pathetic situation. The development has inflicted untold hardship on women, children and the elderly, who are trekking long distances in search of a safe haven and awaiting the intervention of security operatives.”
Bodies of many of the dead victims were deposited at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital Morgue in Makurdi, while many of the injured were also being treated at the hospital.
Gajir Tsoho, a medical doctor at the surgery department of the hospital, confirmed that more than 30 victims had received treatment at the teaching Hospital, with many corpses already deposited at the morgue.
Reacting to the development, Samuel Ortom, Governor of Benue State, said there would be no going back on the implementation of the anti-open grazing law.
He blamed the security agencies for not taking proactive steps to curb the crisis.
“This is unfortunate. The security agencies of this country are aware of what is happening in Benue,” he said.
“So many people are being killed, many houses destroyed, some innocent children were slaughtered, others 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.
“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.”
Confirming the attacks, Moses Yamu, spokesman of the Benue State Police Command, said a total of 17 persons, including seven members of the state’s livestock guards, were killed.
“The Benue State Police Command has recorded attacks on Tomater village in Sengev council ward; Akor village in Nzorov council ward; and Bakin Kwata village in Umanger council ward of the Guma Local Government Area by suspected herdsmen,” Yamu said.
“A total of 17 persons, including seven members of the Benue State Livestock Guards, were killed; their vehicle burnt and an uncertain number of persons injured in separate attacks between December 31, 2017 and January 2, 2018.
“Again, Agba-Uko, near Azege village, and Tse-Aga village of Logo LGA experienced the same fate where one person was killed, one motorcycle burnt, and four persons injured.”
These recent attacks seem to be a validation of the warning issued by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Rearers Association in November 2017 that they would not accept the anti-grazing rule in Benue State.