Suspected herdsmen kill three burial returnees in Benue

Suspected Fulani herdsmen have killed three persons from the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State on Saturday.

The victims were reportedly returning from a burial when they were ambushed by the suspected herdsmen, who allegedly killed them.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Nathaniel Ikyur, who confirmed the incident, said the victims met their death on their way from a burial on the Iordye-Gbajimba Road on Saturday.

He stated, “Around 5pm on Saturday, February 19, 2022, suspected Fulani gunmen killed two males and a female, while they were returning from a burial along the Iordye-Gbajimba Road in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.

“The victims were riding on a motorcycle when they were ambushed and shot dead by the killer herdsmen.”
Ikyur said two of the victims died on the spot from gunshot wounds, while the other was brutally dealt machete blows.

He added that troops of the OPWS recovered the bodies of the victims and deposited their corpses in the Gbajimba General Hospital.

“Sadly, this has been the plight of Benue indigenes in the hands of Fulani herdsmen, who have invaded the state in a bid to take over our ancestral land,” he said.

Similarly, eight persons, who were allegedly kidnapped by suspected Fulani herdsmen in the Agasha community of the same local government area have been rescued by troops of the Operation Whirl Stroke.

Six females and two males were reportedly abducted on their farms on Wednesday, February, 16, 2022, by the suspected herders.

The victims are Philip Akpage; Aondokula Ijah, 30; Mrs Kwadoo Takada, 60; Mrs Kwakuma Asongu, 55; Mrs Agnes Ornguze, 54; Mrs Yanguchan Tiv, 45; Mrs Kwadoo Mtomga, 45; and Mrs Mnembe Terlumum, 30.

According to The Punch, the kidnappers engaged the soldiers in gunfire, but were overpowered by the troops, leading to the rescue of the victims.

Ikyur confirmed the rescue in a statement, saying the victims had since been reunited with their families.

The statement read in part, “As the fight against criminality intensifies in Benue State, troops of the Operation Whirl Stroke, on Saturday, February 19, 2022, made a huge breakthrough when they rescued eight persons from kidnappers’ den.

“The victims had spent over three days with their abductors before their rescue.”