Reports say that at least four people have died, numerous women have been cruelly abused, and one person is missing after suspected armed Fulani herdsmen attacked the Udei and Nzorov towns in the Guma Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State.
Vanguard says that the attacks happened when a group of displaced people went to get firewood in Tse Nyamkume Village along the Yogbo-Udei Road on Monday night.
It was stated that the victims were going back to Udei, where they had gone to escape violence in their native areas.
One of the people who was attacked was Kenneth Gbayier, who was from Mbalagh and had fled his village after being attacked before and found shelter in Udei. It was stated that Gbayier was with another young man from Saawuan Gboodo Village and a few ladies when the armed attackers attacked them.
A source in the neighborhood says that Gbayier was shot during the attack and then hit with a machete on his legs and head many times, which caused injuries that killed him.
“The attackers shot at them and then wielded machetes. Kenneth did not make it through the terrible attack.
“The attackers caught the women in the group and tormented them badly. The second young man was able to get away into the adjacent bush while the attackers chased him. He is still gone, and as of now, there is no sign of where he is, he said.
He said that the most recent attack happened only two days after another terrible one on the Ajimaka Road, where armed herders set up an ambush and killed two Tiv passengers and a security officer who was with them.
He further said that another farmer was supposedly macheted along the Ahentse axis of Nzorov Council Ward, which is also in the Guma Local Government Area, during the same time.
He said that armed Fulani herdsmen have been attacking rural settlements and destroying people’s farms “and the situation is getting worse, making food insecurity worse and the humanitarian crisis worse in the state.”
So, we are asking security personnel to step in right away before things get even worse.
He also cautioned that people living in Udei and nearby areas should be very careful because it has become more risky to travel via bush pathways and country roads because of the ongoing attacks.
When asked, the Police Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent, DSP, Udeme Edet replied she hadn’t heard about the events.
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