Fulani herdsmen on Friday night at Tse Angbande, a suburb of Makurdi, the capital city of Benue State killed four persons while seven others were seriously injured in a renewed attack in the area. The incident, according to locals, happened around 11pm, and a family was almost wiped out in the attack.
A local who simply identified himself as Ityavya said an elderly man identified as Emberga Akwa; his brother, Innocent Akwa; son, Terhemba Akwa; and an in-law known as Orban were killed in the attack. The injured include a wife to the murdered son, Veronica Akwa; a nursing mother who was hit in the leg, and Ephraim Akwa, amongst others.
At the time our correspondent visited the village, people have deserted the area while apprehension has gripped the nearby villagers in Adaka community, all in Makurdi Local Government Area.
Friday night attack came barely four days after suspected herdsmen killed a man and his wife at Adaka in Makurdi before they were repelled by troops of Operation Whirl Stroke who killed three of them. The State Governor, Samuel Ortom, who visited the scene of the attack on Saturday morning alongside the State Commissioner of Police, Mukkadas Garba, condemned the barbaric act.
Ortom, who condoled the families of the deceased, assured the people that security had been beefed up to ensure 24 hours vigilance in the affected area to prevent a recurrence, adding that the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of the state must continue.
