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From Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi
The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Samuel Ortom on Animal Husbandry, Alhaji Shehu Tambaya has condemned, in strong terms, the killing six members of one family and other villagers at Abagena, in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue state.
Recall that gunmen suspected bandits, on Thursday, January 19th, 2023, attacked Abagana community opposite the IDP camp in Makurdi, the Benue State capital wiping out an entire family of six.
Abagena, a sprawling community in Makurdi, the state capital is located along Makurdi-Lafia-Abuja road. The community is home to thousands of people displaced from their ancestral lands and are living in the IDP camp set up by the state Government.
It was reported that the bandits who did not even come with herds of cattle were armed to the teeth killing several other persons in sight and leaving trails of blood.
So far, eight corpses including women and children have been recovered while several others seriously injured were evacuated to hospital for treatment.
Our correspondent reports that the attack is coming barely one week after Tambaya raised an alarm over renewed influx of herdsmen into Benue.
He had called on the security agents to check their activities to prevent them from breaking the laws of the land and disrupting the relative peace enjoyed in the state.
Condemning the killing, Tambaya, said the act is not only monstrous but barbaric and evil.
He noted with pains that killing people, beheading them and taking away their heads is sacrilegious, uncalled for and unacceptable.
He called on the security agencies to go after the perpetrators of the heinous crime and bring them to book.
Meanwhile, Special Adviser on Security Mattters to the Benue State Governor, Lt. Col Paul Hemba, rtd, said security personnel and other villagers have been combing the bushes for more victims who were said to have been shot by the invaders.
He said the attack was unprovoked as the villagers were already set to go to bed when they met their untimely deaths in the hands of the bandits.
According to the Security Adviser, the casualty figure may likely rise as some other persons who were fatally shot and wounded may not survive the injuries in their chest.
He gave the names of those killed as Gbashaor Acho, Gbashaor Joseph, Anshe Dekera, Ancho Kpor, Eunice Gbashaor, Sewuese Gbashaor, Terlumun Ajoh, Emberga Gbashaor and Donald Gbashaor.
He further disclosed that two of those killed were IDPs while the bandits stole two motorcycles belonging to the villagers.
