Not fewer than 11 persons have allegedly been killed in two different attacks on some rural communities in two Local Government Areas of Guma and Kwande, in Benue State.
Our correspondent gathered that five of the deceased were allegedly killed in Uhur, Guma LGA on Thursday and three herders on the Benue/Nasarawa borders while the remaining three were burnt to death, Friday morning in Mbakunu village in Shangev-ya Kwande LGA of the state.
Sources from the area told journalists that the Kwande attack was carried out by hired mecenaries by a rural community in Cross River State who crossed into Kwande to unleash terror on the people.
The source who didn’t want to be named said the attackers fired shot sporadically, wounding many, some of who have been transferred to the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, (BSUTH), for treatment.
According to him, the youths who resisted the attackers killed three of them in the process.
Reacting to the incident, Chairman of Kwande LGA, Tersuwa Yarkwan, told newsmen on phone that the said fight in his locality was on two fronts to include the bordering communities with Taraba and Cross River states.
He lamented the incessant attacks in Kwande saying that this time, it took the timely intervention of the military to quel and repel the attackers.
“The military came in when the police were outnumbered and out gunned. The OPWS came in and took over and succeeded in chasing them away”.
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He said the military apprehended one of the mercenaries from the Cross River divide who attacked his people on grounds of the ongoing boundary demarcation, adding that no lives were lost in the process except that seven persons are still missing.
Yarkwan however disclosed that the killing of three by fire allegedly took place on the Taraba border communities with Benue saying the matter was still being investigated to ascertain the identity of the deceased.
The Chairman of Guma LGA, Anthony Shawon, has also confirmed that five persons were killed in his area by Gunmen.
Shawon said on phone that “As I speak with you right now, the neighbouring Torkula village is under attack but the Army has reinforced to the place.”
Also reacting, Secretary of Myetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in Benue state, Ibrahim Galma, said that suspected members of the Tiv community at the border areas of Benue with Nasarawa state allegedly killed three herders between Monday and Wednesday.
He said the attackers also made away with their motorcycles.
According to him, several meetings are ongoing with security operatives to stall reprisals in the affected areas.
Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Catherine Anene, has confirmed the Kwande crisis saying she was yet to get any report on the Guma attack.
Anene further disclosed that in the Kwande crisis, there were no deaths but injured victims who are now receiving treatments in various in the hospitals in the state.
