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From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
It has been a sad moment indeed for the Idoma people of Benue South Senatorial District as some bandits suspected to be Fulani herdsmen have consistently launched attacks on them, killing, maiming and abducting victims in the last two weeks.
Last week Sunday, some suspected herdsmen attacked Igama/Okpariko, in Edumoga District of Okpokwu Local Government Area, killing 11 people and burning down the entire community.
Then, on Thursday of the same week, the attackers, who seemed not to have been satisfied, stormed Orokam village in neighbouring Ogbadibo LGA and beheaded two persons, a councillor-elect and his cousin.
The young councillor-elect of Orokam Ward III in Ogbadibo LGA of Benue State, identified as Hon. Paul Ojile, was among those who were recently elected in the local government election that took place in May this year and was awaiting swearing in.
He was said to have been killed by the herdsmen alongside his cousin, Agbo Onogwu, on Thursday night while some youths of the village went on the trail of the herdsmen after they reportedly abducted a member of the community.
According to a member of the community, who simply gave his name as Ameh, the kidnap victim, a timber contractor identified as Raphael Okpe, was abducted by the herdsmen on his way to deliver food to his workers in the bush that fateful day.
The source said: “They kidnapped a man who was a timber contractor and was going to supply his workers food in the bush. He met one of his friends who told him that these people (herdsmen) were around, and that he should be careful.
“Then, all of a sudden, he saw eight people coming and the victim asked his friend if they were the people he was talking about? But on sighting them, the other man, who was with his motorcycle quickly jumped on it and sped off, leaving the timber contractor behind.
“Before the victim could move, he fell into a pit and the attackers rushed and got hold of him. They told him to call any of his brothers to come to his aid. The second man that escaped raised the alarm on getting to the community. The alarm attracted security agencies and I think, before 1pm on the second day, they all gathered from Otukpa, Orokam and Owukpa and entered the bush.
“By that time the kidnappers had left the victim and gone away. But the security operatives and the residents were still searching whether the victim was with the kidnappers until he started shouting and some people rescued him.
“After the rescue, some other people who rushed to go and look for the victim, not knowing that he had been rescued already, were butchered by the attackers.
“One of those two persons killed was a councillor-elect who was to be sworn in next month.
“At least, we were able to arrest two of the killers who were Fulani but they are nowhere to be found now, they escaped from the police station. When the youths went into the bush on Friday and carried the dead bodies of their brothers, they came back to the police station and demanded for the detainees to be handed over to them so that they would do justice to the killers. The police told them that they lacked authority so they transferred the suspects to Abuja but it was not true.”
Reacting to the development, Benue State police public relations officer, Catherine Anene, confirmed the killing of the newly elected councillor and his cousin, but debunked claims that the suspects had escaped from detention.
Anene, who had earlier confirmed the abduction of the timber contractor, said: “In the same rescue operation, two civilians who were in search for their brother were killed in the bush.”
Also, commander of Nigeria Police joint task force, codenamed Operation Zenda, Justin Gberindyer, confirmed the arrest of two suspected Fulani militiamen who abducted the wood contractor in Orokam.
Gberindyer, who gave the names of the suspects as Abdul Muhammed and Yusuf Saidu, also identified the kidnapped businessman as Mr. Okpeh Raphael.
Speaking with newsmen in his office at the headquarters of Operation Zenda along Naka Road, Makurdi, recently, Gberindyer disclosed that the suspected Fulani militia, numbering about eight, on Thursday, stormed a village in Ogbadibo and made away with a timber dealer, Okpeh Raphael, who was on his way to the farm.
“On receiving the information, my men swung into action by going after the kidnappers to their hideout in the forest. After a serious gun duel, the victim was rescued with a gunshot wound on his leg while six of the kidnappers escaped. Two were arrested.”
Gberindyer said an elder brother to the victim, Paul Ojile, a councillor-elect, and one of the community’s volunteer guards, Agbo Onogwu, who accompanied his men in search of the victim, were shot dead by the kidnappers.
He said an AK-47 rifle with 10 rounds of live ammunition was recovered in the process.
Meanwhile, the victim, Okpe, who spoke while on admission at an undisclosed hospital, said he received a call on his way to farm that gunmen numbering eight were patrolling the village.
“Before I knew it, I was blocked by the gunmen that dragged me into a forest demanding money. And because I wasn’t cooperating by giving them money, they shot me in the leg and it was the gunshot sound that enabled security agents to locate and rescue me,” he said.
Okpe described the death of the young men at the hands of marauding herdsmen in Orokam, Ogbadibo LGA, as very traumatizing, stressing that the unjustifiable murder of promising young men who wanted the best for their community was condemnable.
“It’s indeed a trying period for us in Benue South and I call on the Federal Government to do everything it can to halt this genocidal crusade against my people before it degenerates into a full-fledged crisis that we will not be able to contain. This is not acceptable anywhere.
“My heart goes out to the family of Hon. Paul Ojile, councillor-elect for Orokam Ward 3, and his brother who paid the supreme price. I deeply and sincerely sympathize with them.
“I also stand with the good people of Orokam and entire Ogbadibo at this difficult time. We are together in this fight and will come out victorious by the grace of God. We will never vacate our ancestral homes for strangers,” he said.
A local source identified as Adakole John also lamented that herdsmen have taken over Otukpo-Ugbokolo-Enugu road, robbing, shooting and kidnapping motorists and commuters, thus creating fear among road users.
He called on the Federal Government to wake up and live up to its primary responsibility of protecting citizens and their property as, according to him, the killings are too many and must end now.
Last Friday, coffins bearing the remains of the Igama attack victims were lined up at the village square and later given a mass burial amid wailing from mourners.
Speaking during the burial, the senator representing Benue South, Comrade Abba Moro, lamented the attacks and mindless killing of his constituents, describing it as barbaric and cowardly.
He vowed that he would never fold his hands and watch his people get killed and sacked from their ancestral homes by external aggressors, stressing that he would continue to work with the state government and security agents to put to an end the murderous activities of killer herdsmen in Benue South.
The senator called on the people, especially the youths, not to take the law into their hands but always be alert to partner with security agents to provide security for their communities.
