From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
Again, gunmen suspected to be herdsmen militia, have reportedly killed four persons in communities of Guma Local Government Area (LGA) and Gwer-West LGA of Benue State.
Our correspondent gathered that the killings occurred on Monday in a renewed round of attacks in the state.
It was gathered that the herders shot the immediate past Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Tse-Defam, Mba’akov Vengav, Avihijime council ward, in Gwer-West LGA, James Akase killing him on the spot.
It was also gathered that in a separate attack on the same day, the herdsmen killed three other persons in some communities in Guma LGA of the state.
A Public Analyst in the state, Tivta Samuel Aondohemba, who disclosed this to newsmen named the affected villages as Tse Ikpe Ago, along Yogbo-Gyungu Aze road in Mbayer/Yandev council ward, and Tse Kologa in Mbagune, Nyiev council ward, of Guma LGA.
He said the attacks on the aforementioned communities were coordinated and unprovoked.
He explained that the multiple attacks by the herders, which occurred on Monday, left many other persons in the communities severely injured, while others were currently receiving treatment in various hospitals across the area.
Meanwhile, the current PDP ward chairman of Avihijime, council ward, Gwer-West LGA, Samuel Udam, noted that, Akase, a former ward chairman, who was displaced from his ancestral home, met his death when he went back to his ancestral home in search of food to sustain his family.
According to Udam, it was while on this mission that he was ambushed and killed by the armed herdsmen, who have virtually taken over the whole of Gwer-West LGA.
The Gwer-West LG chairman, Victor Ormin ,who confirmed the killing of the PDP chairman in the area, explained that, the deceased went to the farm to get some food when he met his death, adding that another man, who was kidnapped on Monday ,was released later in the night after his family paid the ransom demanded from them.
He said the attack launched by herdsmen on Tse Ikpe Ago, Mbayer/Yandev council ward, and Tse Kologa in Mbagune, Nyiev council ward, Guma LGA of the state, left three persons dead.
Samuel Aondohemba, said during the attack on Tse Ikpe Ago, one Bartholomew Ikornya, lost his life,while at Kologa village, Gabriel Korlaga and one Kunde, lost their lives. He also said one Akura, a native of the area, who was shot in the leg is currently receiving treatment at a government hospital in Makurdi.
“These senseless killings are yet another painful reminder of the unending bloodshed our people in Benue state continue to endure”, he said.
The Guma LGA chairman, Maurice Orwough, as well as the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Benue State Command, CSP Catherine Anene could not be reached at the time of filing this report.