No fewer than 16 people, including a Mobile Police officer, have been killed following an attack by suspected armed herdsmen on a market in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State.
The attack occurred on Tuesday afternoon at Abande settlement in Mbaikyor Ward, Turan, when traders and buyers had gathered for the weekly market.
According to residents, the attackers stormed the market, opened fire indiscriminately, looted shops, and set parts of the market ablaze, causing panic and mass casualties.
A community leader and former supervisory councillor in Kwande LGA, Lawrence Akerigba, confirmed the incident, stating that the assailants carted away millions of naira from traders before setting the market on fire.
“Wednesday was Abande market day. People were buying and selling when the herders attacked.
They looted shops, took away large sums of money and later set the market on fire,” Akerigba said.
He added that as of 11:55 pm, bodies of the victims were being evacuated to Jato-Aka by personnel of the Mobile Police Force stationed in the area.
Akerigba further disclosed that a Mobile Police officer, reportedly the unit commander on duty at the time of the attack, was also killed.
Several residents are still missing, while search and rescue efforts are ongoing.
The latest incident adds to a series of violent attacks in Benue State, which have raised growing concerns over security in farming communities across the state.
