TENSION is mounting in BENUE State amid rising killings and insecurity.
On Sunday June 15, angry youths gathered at the popular Wurukum Food Basket Roundabout in Makurdi from where they moved to the streets, blocking the Abuja-Makurdi highway and Wurukum Roundabout in Makurdi, causing gridlock and panic among commuters.
The protesting youths, who are in the hundreds, are demanding justice for the victims of the attacks and stronger security measures to prevent future attacks.
According to Channels TV, the protesters rejected Deputy Governor Sam Ode’s attempt to address them, demanding that Governor Hyacinth Alia come in person instead.
The situation almost escalated when armed policemen and soldiers confronted the protesters, attempting to disperse them with tear gas.
The protesters were thereafter met with a heavy police and military presence, which led to a tense standoff and the deployment of teargas to disperse the crowd.
Despite police attempts to disperse them, the protesters remained resolute, calling on President Bola Tinubu and Governor Alia to intervene and address the ongoing violence and killings in the state.
Meanwhile, Governor Alia on Sunday condemned the attack and killing of innocent citizens at Yelewata by suspected criminal herders, saying that nothing should warrant the taking of life.
Alia, represented by his deputy Ode, vowed to work tirelessly to bring peace to Benue State after visiting the scene of the recent attack.
He assured the residents that more tactical teams had started arriving in Benue from the federal government, and additional security deployments were being arranged for vulnerable areas.
The ICIR reported on Saturday, June 14, that fresh attacks on two local government areas of Benue State have resulted in the death of 26 persons.
The victims were killed in overnight attacks on communities in the Makurdi and Katsina-Ala local government areas of the State.
No fewer than 25 of them were struck to death in the Mtswenem and Akondotyough Bawa communities in the North Bank area of Makurdi Local Government Area, while one person was killed in a different attack on Agbami and Kenvanger villages in the Mbatyula ward of Katsina-Ala Local Government.
Residents said armed men attacked the communities between midnight on Thursday with guns and machetes. A resident reported that the gunmen invaded homes, killing people while they slept. Iorpuu, a witness, told Daily Trust that the victims included women and children, while many others were still missing.
When contacted, the police public relations officer of the Benue Police Command, Udeme Edet, reportedly said operatives from the command had been deployed to the affected areas in Makurdi and promised that further details would be made available to newsmen.
She, however, said the police hadn’t been informed about the Katsina-Ala incident at the time of reporting.
The ICIR reported that gunmen launched attacks on Apa and Agatu LGAs in the troubled state, reportedly leaving scores of people dead.
These attacks came shortly after top military leaders, including the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Olufemi Oluyede, visited the state and promised to restore peace.
The ICIR reports that following earlier deadly attacks on Gwer West and Apa LGAs, the COAS, Oluyede, moved to the state in a strategic push to curb the escalating violence.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the COAS was accompanied by Principal Staff Officers (PSOs) and other senior army officials for an on-the-ground security assessment.
Oluyede ordered additional deployment of troops and logistics to the state to pursue and dismantle criminal groups operating in the state.
Despite all the efforts by the COAS and his team, the killings in Benue have continued.
According to Daily Trust, at least 270 people have been killed in the state in the last two months.
The ICIR, in a recent report highlighted how many villages in Benue have been caught in a deadly cycle of violence, with families torn apart, homes reduced to rubble, and communities forced to flee.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance