From: Rose Ejembi, Makurdi.
No fewer than 10 persons have been feared killed in a renewed hostilities between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in Mbahimin community, Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State.
But the state Police Command confirmed that five persons were killed in the crisis – one Fulani herdsman, four natives.
This is just as Governor Samuel Ortom has raised alarm over the influx of herdsmen and their cattle, saying to provide security was fast overwhelming his government.
Said he, “Security problems have overwhelmed us especially with the influx of herdsmen and their cattle, everywhere there is fear”.
Daily Sun gathered from sources in the area that the attack, which started on February 24, continued following attempts by the villagers to prevent the herdsmen who had invaded their community with a large number of cattle from grazing on their farm lands.
The herdsmen were said to have invaded the community with thousands of their cattle and insisted on grazing on their farmland and efforts to stop them resulted in the clash.
“These Fulanis insisted on grazing on our farmlands including our cassava farms and when we asked them to leave our farms, they attacked us. Several people were killed and others wounded while our farms were massively destroyed,” said, one of the villagers.
One of the leaders of the community, Mr. Tersoor Hwande, who also confirmed the killings called for prayers for his people following the Fulani attacks on the community.
He listed the dead victims to include Jimmy Angbian Ugon, Benjamin Iorcher Agah, (younger brother to John Agah, Prof. Ashiko’s driver) and Puusu, a visitor who came to the community for the marriage arrangements of his son revealing that the Fulanis killed Jimmy and Benjamin and plucked our their eyes.
However, the Benue State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Moses Yamu, while confirming the incident, explained that five persons were killed in the crisis.
Yamu said that the police got a report that a Fulani man was killed in Mbahimin during a crisis between herdsmen and farmers adding that before they could reach there, the Fulanis, apparently in a reprisal, attacked the villagers which resulted in the killing of four members of the area.
He noted that normalcy had been restored to the area as the police have deployed and stationed their men at the spot of the crisis and warned against reprisal attack by both parties, even as he advised that any breakdown of law and order should be reported to the police.