From ROSE EJEMBI, Makurdi.
No fewer than seven persons have been confirmed killed in Buruku Local Government area of Benue State after suspected Fulani herdsmen invaded the area in the early hours of yesterday.
Daily Sun gathered that the invaders had stormed some villages at about 1:30am Thursday and started shooting sporadically at the people, a development which made the villagers to scamper helter-skelter for safety.
Brings to four the number of local government areas already embrolled in Fulani herdsmen/Benue Farmers clashes. The four local government areas include Agatu, Logo, Buruku and Tarka.
Sources also revealed that following the invasion, members of the crisis-torn area and other neighbouring communities have deserted their homes and fled to other parts of the state for safety.
State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Moses Yamu in a telephone chat with our Correspondent confirmed that seven persons, including a Fulani man was killed in the crisis.
Yamu who disclosed that the state Commissioner of Police, Dibal Yakadi was already leading Mobile policemen to the scene of crisis to calm the situation and restore peace, law and order in the area.
In another development, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCRMIDP) has donated relief materials to Benue State to help alleviate the sufferings of those displaced by the recent crisis in Agatu and other parts of the state.
Handing over the materials to the Executive Secretary, State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr. Boniface Ortese, Acting Commissioner NCRMIDP, Mrs. Margaret Essien said the gesture was to identify with the victims of the incident.
While disclosing that the Commission had donated food and non food items to he state fir onward distribution to IDPs, Essien expressed hope that the relief materials would go a long way in alleviating the pains of those who had been displaced by the crisis.
Earlier the SEMA boss, had thanked the Commission for its prompt response to the plight of the Benue people and urged them to continue to assist the state in whatever way possible.
Highlight of the event was the distribution of relief materials to IDPs from Buruku, Tarka, Logo and Agatu local government areas recently ravaged by Fulani herdsmen invasion.