The herdsmen attack led to a serious pandemonium and forced the closure of the market as traders ran helter-shelter to avoid being caught in the attack.
Besides, no fewer than 15 people sustained varying degrees of injuries, most of whom are receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Jalingo where the corpses of the slain victims were also deposited.
Confirming the incident in a telephone interview, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP David Missal, said no policeman was killed in the attack.
But COLOSSUS GISTS checks at the FMC revealed that the corpse of a policeman was among those deposited at the hospital’s mortuary.
Missal, however, stated that the victims were trailed to the market by the assailants on the grounds that the cows they brought to the market for sale were stolen.
According to him,
“Information available to us indicates that the attackers killed the yet- to- be identified people because the cows they brought to the market were their cows, which were stolen during the crisis in Lau LGA of the state.
He, however, declined to confirm whether the victims were from Mayo Lope in Lau LGA, saying the command was still gathering intelligence.
“We are still gathering intelligence on the attack. We are trying to find out the perpetrators who took the law into their hands, instead of reporting to us; if really a case of cattle rustling was established,” he said.
A police officer who witnessed the Kaduna incident said,
“the policemen brought the corpses of their colleagues and blocked the road leading to the command and started shooting sporadically in the air”.
According to him, a woman whose identity could not be immediately established was hit by the bullet and was rushed to the hospital where she died due to excessive bleeding.
Our correspondent gathered that the policemen were later disarmed and detained.
However reacting to the incident, spokesman of the command, Mukhtar Aliyu said in a statement that the policemen were mourning their dead colleagues when an accidental discharge occurred.
Aliyu said in a statement that the policemen who brought the corpses of their colleagues were in deep mourning mood.
According to the statement,
“the police team engaged the attackers in a fierce gun battle and at the end, two of the unidentified gunmen were killed and one AK 47 rifle was recovered.
“Unfortunately, two police officers lost their lives in the incident. However, the situation has been promptly brought under control. In their deep mourning mood, some police officers who conveyed the corpses of their late colleagues to Kaduna encountered an unfortunate incident where there was an accidental discharge of gun-shot which hit a female member of the public. She was rushed to the hospital but sadly died from sustained wounds,” he said.
According to the statement, one of the suspects was killed by the police during the gun duel.
“One AK 47 rifle with 16 rounds of live ammunition was recovered while the policemen are already combing the surrounding forest to arrest the fleeing bandits,”the statement added.
It further observed a minute silence for those who lost their lives in the attack.
The resolution followed a motion moved under matters of urgent public importance by Hon. Abdulrasaq Namdas (APC, Adamawa) on the matter.
He noted concern that 16 communities in the southern zone of the state had been involved in reprisal attacks leading to loss of lives and properties worth millions of naira.
He said the residents of affected communities had been rendered homeless with over 200 houses had been razed down.
The lawmaker, who had last year indicated he would quit politics and won’t seek a re-election to parliament because of the general belief that politicians are corrupt, said there is no evidence that the ministry executed the zonal intervention projects in his communities.
He said though the sum of N30 million had been earmarked for each of the years, no project was carried out from the money, noting that the few interventions in the zone were those carried out by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He, therefore, sought answers on the whereabouts of the constituency allocations to his community.
Source
Government troops have captured another killer herdsman in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue, the scene of recurring deadly attacks by herdsmen.
The name of the captured herdsman was given as Idi Gemu.
The capture of Mr Gemu, whose AK 47 has also been seized by troops, brings to four the number of killer herdsmen captured in the area in the past five days.
Many communities in the Tiv speaking areas, including Guma Local Government Area, have seen repeated attacks by herdsmen in recent times.
Hundreds of people, especially farmers, have been losing their lives to recurring herdsmen attacks in communities in North Central Nigeria in recent years.
There has been no letup in the killing of people in communities in Benue, raising fears that agriculture in Nigeria’s food basket may soon be threatened.
The Commander of 72 Special Forces Battalion, Suleiman Mohammed, a Lt. Col., told reporters on Wednesday in Makurdi that Mr Gemu was captured on May 1.
Mr Mohammed said the three other killer herdsmen were also captured in the Guma Local Government Area on April 26 and that their capture led to the capture of Mr Gemu.
He said that troops were doing “everything possible” to safeguard lives and property in Benue, advising residents of the state to provide useful information to security agencies.
But in an interview with journalists, Mr Gemu said that the Ak 47 rifle recovered from him did not belong to him, saying that the gun belonged to one of his friends, who fled when troops swooped on them.
Mr Gemu claimed that he was sleeping when the soldiers came and that his friend fled after he sighted the troops.
He said he decided to keep the gun for the friend but was arrested with the gun by the troops.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, has embarked on an operational visit to troops in some of the troubled spots in Benue.
(NAN)
A member of the House of Representatives from Benue State, Dickson Takighir, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to declare killer herdsmen terrorists.
He made the call while raising alarm over alleged killings of 24 persons in renewed attacks in the state between April 2 and 4.
The lawmakers also faulted the military for terminating Operation Cat Race in the state.
According to Takighir,
“These latest attacks have occurred in Ikyon and Agasha on April 3 and April 4; in Semaka, Asom, Babanruwa on April 3 and in Udei and Umenger on April 2.
“They (killer herdsmen) are right now stationed at Nzorov council ward, ready to attack Gbajimba in the Guma Local Government Area. There are others in Nasarawa, ready to attack Udei and Daudu with over 14 people killed in the last four days.
“Similarly, Sengev, Mbakyondo and Mbapa areas of Gwer-West Local Government Area are currently under siege by armed herdsmen.
“In Tsegaase, two people have been killed; one person is missing in Zwatema, two killed in Tse Adeke, one killed in Tse Adudu with one missing in Tsekelefu.
“So far, we have yet to confirm the casualty level in Enger. On April 3, four people were killed in Anyebe and one person at Mbavihi both in Tonbo ward of Logo local government.”
The Nigeria Police Force has denied reports that it has withdrawn Police Special Forces from the theatre of operation in Benue State.
It also faulted the claims on Sunday in a statement signed by the Benue State Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni.
Countering the withdrawal claims, Mr Owoseni said: “the Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, has continued to reinforce the Command with personnel and material resources as it becomes operationally expedient.
“With the reinforcement, which is aimed at encouraging the speedy return of displaced persons to their respective communities, the Command has been able to increase its visibility across the state.
“While the situation is relatively calm, the Police Command would continue to partner with well-meaning members of the society and sister security agencies to ensure the security of life and property in Benue.”
 |
| Group storms Abuja, calls for immediate probe of Ortom, Ishiaku over herdsmen/farmers’ clashes in Benue, Taraba |
Protesters numbering over 500, Thursday, shutdown the capital city of Abuja, in protest of the protracted clashes between farmers and herdsmen, which have resulted to the deaths of many Nigerians in Benue and Taraba States and other parts of the country.
The group, under the aegis of Good Governance and Transparency Initiative, is demanding the Nigerian government as well as the international community to urgently wade into the foot-dragging crises, which have rendered many citizens homeless and bereaved.
The protesters, who were seen displaying placards, bearing various inscriptions, called for the urgent probe of governors Samuel Ortom of Benue and Darius Ishaku of Taraba States over the attacks. Speaking on behalf of the group, Mrs. Jaiyeola Mohammed, the Executive Director, said the attitudes of Ortom and Ishiaku speak volume, a clear case of hand of Esau but voice of Jacob.
Mohammed alleged that Ortom, especially has using the state’s resources to cover up his mess by sponsoring protests abroad. According to the group, “Our bigger worry, however, is the inaction that has continued to allow attention to focus on the wrong sources of the crisis. There is so much of playing the ostrich going on while the crisis festers.
Our thoughts are that the problem in Benue state would have been contained to that geographical entity and promptly dealt with to save other states from suffering the fallout of a politically and ethnically motivated crisis. Group storms Abuja, calls for immediate probe of Ortom, Ishiaku over herdsmen/farmers’ clashes in Benue, Taraba ” A killing related to the crisis in Benue has been reported in Ekiti while Taraba, Nasarawa, Plateau and even Kaduna are practically on edge because of what has happened in that state.
“It is most unfortunate that instead of accepting reality and admitting what he did wrong to provoke the current crisis, Governor Ortom has rather engaged in looking at the cause of the problem in every other place except within himself. “This is despite the barrage of documentary evidence of him setting up militias and placing firearms in their arms to kill herdsmen. He is yet to explain what he stands to gain from the deaths of Benue people that he knew would definitely result from reprisals from the activities of his militias.
“The Benue state governor has even taken things a step further by deploying N1 billion of his state’s fund to finance protests in major cities of the world as we earlier alerted. Not even the shame of being discovered as manipulating events was enough to dissuade this governor from this folly. Our concern is how a state governor could spend so much of his state’s resources on just eight (8) protesters in the United States.
We then wonder how much he has spent on the hundreds of militias he has organized and how much he has expended on their weapons. “Our group is interested in the peaceful resolution of the conflict between herdsmen and farmers, which is why we are staging this protest to demand a full investigation of the roles of the Governor of Benue State, Mr. Samuel Ortom and his Taraba state counterpart, Mr. Darius Dickson Ishiaku in sponsoring ethnic militias to wipe out people of Fulani origin.
“Only such investigation would reveal facts that will prevent a full descent into state sponsored ethnic cleansing that has repercussions for all ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. “The investigation should include terms of reference that will yield recommendations in pursuit of identifying militia members and recovering the weapons reportedly issued to them by these governors or their agents.”
Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue state has again rejected the suggestion that the state should create Cattle Colony or Grazing Routes for herdsmen.
He said the suggestions were not acceptable to the Benue people.
Ortom stated this on Thursday in Makurdi in a service to mark the mass burial of the victims of the herdsmen invasion. He had stated this position on Wednesday at a stakeholders meeting attended by the Inspector General of Police. Idris Ibrahim.
On Thursday, he said since the state does not even have adequate land for farmers, it does not have the space to give herdsmen for grazing.
He insisted on ranching, saying “it is the best way to go and it is in conformity with global best practices”.
Ortom said that if the recent killings by herdsmen were meant to intimidate the state government to repeal the law, the herdsmen had failed woefully.
He also blamed the killings of Benue indigenes on the silence of the Federal Government and others responsible for the security of lives and property, an accusation he also made on Wednesday.
Ortom lamented that if the Federal Government had acted on the reports he gave it concerning the threats of attacks by the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, the killings would have been averted.
He urged the Federal Government to arrest the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore because they had severally made incisive statements against the state.
He, therefore, stated that the recent killings were a pointer to the fact that they had threatened and executed their devilish threats.
He condoled the families of the slain victims and those that were injured as well as those that lost their property.
Also, the CAN Chairman, Rev. Akpen Leva, urged Benue citizens to unite irrespective of tribe, political and religious differences in order to tackle their enemies.
Leva described the attacks as a “genocide” that was targeted at exterminating the Tiv’s.
Former Military Governor, Katsina State, Gen. Lawrence Onoja (rtd) also described the attacks ” a conspiracy against the indigenes” and said it would be resisted.
Also in a funeral eulogy, Sen. Joseph Waku, said the state has had enough of the senseless killings saying ”enough is enough”.
The Tor Tiv, Prof James Ayatse alleged that the killings in the New Year attacks were signs of an ethnic cleansing agenda.
He said the persistent attacks on Benue communities were worrisome, especially since the federal government failed to prevent re-occurrence.
He said the herdsmen have attacked Benue 47 times in five years, attacks, he said were akin to an agenda of genocide.
” I, therefore, call on the Federal Government to act swiftly by putting an end to this killings; this act of impunity must stop.”
He encouraged Gov Samuel Ortom to stand firm in his resolve to implement the anti open grazing law, no matter the threats from the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore.
The paramount ruler called for prayers for the dead and appealed to the media to report the carnage that had befallen the state.
An elder statesman and Second Republic Minister of Steel and Industry, Mr Paul Unongo, sounded a strong warning to the aggressors saying ” enough is enough”.
He said the people of the state who fought in the civil war to sustain the unity of Nigeria, would not continue to allow invaders to kill and maim their people if the Federal Government failed to protect them.
“We are capable of raising a million people to defend our land if nothing is done to stop the killings. Enough of the killings.”
Earlier in his funeral oration, the Catholic Bishop of Gboko Diocese, Most Rev. Williams Avenya, prayed for the repose of the souls of the dead and called for prayers for the survivors of the attacks.
He regretted that despite the massive support the people gave to the APC at the federal level, all they could receive in return were the 73 corpses of their beloved ones murdered in cold blood.
Also in a speech, the Country Representative of the UN in Nigeria, Mr Martins Ejidike, said the world body would consider the request for humanitarian assistance to the 50,000 displaced people during the attacks.
He assured the UN would further discuss the details of the assistance with the Benue governor and prayed for peace in the state.
One of the survivors, Mr Akaater Azera, said that the herdsmen came in the night while they were asleep and started shooting sporadically.
According to him, when his wife came out, the gun toting men shot and killed her on the spot.
Azera added that when he ran out of the house, he was pursued, with machete cuts inflicted on his face and leg.
Source
NAN
The Benue State Government on Thursday held a mass burial for the victims of the Fulani Herdsmen killings.
It was reported that over 70 people have been killed between December 31 and January 8 by the Fulani Herdsmen in Benue State, with several still missing.
The state government decided to have a mass burial for all of the deceased, along with a memorial service.
See photos from the service below:
Popular Nigerian comedian, Ali Baba, who is dubbed the godfather of Nigerian stand-up comedy has written on the reasons why the Fulani herdsmen are the new power brokers in the country.
Multi-award winning veteran comedian and the father of Stand-up comedy in Nigeria, Atunyota Alleluya Akporobomerere, popularly known by his stage name, Ali Baba, has taken to his Instagram page to explain why the Fulani herdsmen are the new power brokers in Nigeria.
He wrote:
"These are the new power brokers.... not those in oil and gas. If anyone in oil and gas sends anyone to beat up... not kill... just beat up, they will see what is called the long arm of the law. But these guys?"They can walk all over your cassava farm, burn down your houses, raise down a village, kill the villagers... and walk off. And they only carry a stick. Just a stick. If you say who is is more powerful, security agencies or theses cattle rarers... heads or tail... herds men!!!"
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