Gunmen kill 10 in fresh attack on Benue communities

By HOPE ABAH EMMANUEL, Makurdi

Gunmen on Sunday killed at least 10 people in three communities of Agatu Local Government Area in Benue State.

It was gathered from some villagers in the affected communities that 10 bodies have been recovered so far while many others are missing in the simultaneous attacks.

Council Chairman of Agatu, Usman Suleiman, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent by telephone, said the detail of the early morning mayhem is still sketchy.

Suleiman said information got to him around 7:00am that Adana Community was under attack by suspected gunmen and that he quickly alerted the Special Adviser on Security, the Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), Air Force, Police and other security agencies in the state to come to their aid.

He stressed that the security agencies responded swiftly, arrested some ‘boys’ and had so far retrieved nine corpses as of the time of this report.

Locals said that one Ak47 rifle and 60 rounds of ammunition were recovered from a militia leader arrested by men of Operation Whirl Stroke.

Meanwhile, the Force Commander of OPWS, Major General Adeyemi Yekini, declined comment on the matter, urging our correspondent to contact the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) Information Department.

But, the Benue Command Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Catherine Anene, confirmed that three corpses were recovered in the fracas.

Anene said, “Information was received on Sunday at about 5:30am that suspected herdsmen attacked Adama village, a riverine area in Agatu that is not motorable. A team of police officers have been deployed to the area but the level of destruction/ casualties is yet to be ascertained. Further development will be communicated to you as soon as the team on ground starts sending reports.” (Daily Trust)