Herders kill man, wound several others in attack on Benue communities
One person is feared to have been killed and several others injured, and many houses razed on Saturday when suspected herders invaded Tsokar, a farming community in the Agagbe area of Gwer-West Local Government Area of Benue State.
The armed herders, numbering over 50, were said to have attacked the community around the early hours of Saturday.
Salient Times gathered that during the attack, one Mr Msugh Ubele was killed on his farm, and several people were wounded while others escaped after a hot pursuit by the armed men.
The herdsmen again, in a similar act in the early hours of Sunday, attacked and burnt down Tse Ortwev, two kilometres from Naka town, the headquarters of Gwer West LGA.
An eyewitness, Kusa Yarga, who escaped from the attack, said the killer herdsmen stormed the area at about 5 am.
He said they heard rumours of an impending herdsmen attack on the village and hurriedly evacuated children and women, leaving their farm produce behind, which was destroyed by the marauding herdsmen.
Yarga expressed the concern of the community over the spike in attacks and the high number of casualties. He criticised the lack of effective intervention from security agencies and the state government to quell the violence.
The caretaker chairman of Gwer West LGA, Henry Agba, did not respond to calls to his phone to confirm the incidents.
Efforts to reach the Benue State Police Command Public Relations Officer, SP Catherine Anene, to confirm the incident were not successful.
