Suspected Fulani herdsmen kill 3 mourners in Benue

Suspected Fulani herdsmen have attacked and killed three persons returning from a burial in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.

The Chief Press Secretary to the state Governor, Nathaniel Ikyur, confirmed the incident in a statement obtained by News Band on Monday.

According to Ikyur, the three persons were killed after they reportedly ran into the suspected herdsmen while returning from a burial along the Iordye-Gbajimba Road on Saturday.

He said: “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.

The state police command is yet to issue a statement on the incident.

Ikyur also confirmed the rescue of eight persons allegedly kidnapped by suspected Fulani herdsmen in the Agasha community of the same Local Government Area 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.

It was gathered that the victims were rescued by the troops on Saturday.

The kidnappers reportedly engaged the soldiers in gunfire abandoned their victims and took to flight when they were overpowered by the troops.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor confirmed the incident in a statement, noting that the victims had 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.”

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