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Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Barely two weeks after armed herdsmen allegedly attacked some communities in Guma Local Government Area, suspected herdsmen yesterday, attacked Div-nzaav community in Kwande LGA of Benue State; killed one person and abducted three women.
The Benue State Police Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Catherine Anene, said she was yet to be briefed about any fresh attack in Kwande and promised to get back to Journalists as soon as possible .
However, Force Commander, Operation Whirl Stroke, (OPWS), Maj. Gen. Adeyemi Yekini, said that there was no case of fresh attack in Kwande area of the state: “I have my troops on ground in Jato-aka in Kwande area. I have sent them to the area. The people are alleging that herdsmen militias killed people. To the best of my knowledge, there is no new case in Kwande, it is just rumours,” Yekini explained.
A native of the community, Solomon Amande, told Daily Sun in a phone conversation in Makurdi that the herders stormed the area last Friday and camped in a nearby swampy area. He said that it was from there that the herdsmen unleashed mayhem on the people yesterday. He said the victim, Tarfa Simon, was killed in the first compound that was attacked while a woman, Ngusonon Kighir, who was frying garri in the compound was given a serious machete cut.
Amande, said: “They also took two women and little children away while they were shooting in the air to scare people away .They told the women that they would not kill them as they were instructed not to kill women, but men and boys. They could have killed those children but they discovered that the children are all girls after conducting search on them”.
“As I am talking to you, we have recovered the body of a man while Ngusonon Kighir, is currently receiving medical treatment at Msonter Clinic and Maternity Jato-aka in Kwande. We have reported this early morning attack to the divisional police station in Kwande and the police post in Turan Jato-aka.”
Amande further said that the entire community has been deserted as people were taking refuge under in Jato-aka main market: “We have resolved to live with the herders who go about with sophisticated weapons, but they have resolved to be killing our people who do not even have knives apart from hoes for farm work. The burden is too much, we are hapless and helpless, we don’t have financial and physical powers to resist those who are bent on taking over our land.
Amande who lamented that every year, his people were attacked and killed by armed herdsmen appealed to the state and the Federal Governments to create a special camp for the herders in the area to forestall the incessant attacks.
