In a series of relentless assaults on communities in Benue State, at least seven people have been confirmed dead following a fresh attack on Agbo Vengav Udam, a village in Gwer West Local Government Area. The assault, which occurred around 7 p.m. on Thursday, has been blamed on suspected armed herders.
According to reports, the attackers stormed the community through a border village in neighbouring Otukpo LGA. “They passed through the border village of Otukpo and, entering into Agbo, they shot their guns sporadically, killing the seven people on the spot. They took away three people with them,” a local source told PUNCH.
Tragically, an infant was reported among those killed, while the child’s mother was one of the three abducted during the incident. The Chairman of Gwer West LGA, Victor Ormin, confirmed the attack and the casualties. “It’s true that scores of people were killed at Vengav Udam village within the local government Thursday night,” he said.
Ormin revealed that two critically injured victims were currently receiving treatment at Naka hospital. He lamented the increasing frequency of such attacks, noting that this latest incident came shortly after the hijacking of commercial vehicles and the abduction of passengers in the area. “The situation is becoming unbearable, the way these armed herders are wreaking havoc in the local government and the state as a whole,” he stated.
It was also gathered that five of the deceased were taken to a morgue, while the families of the remaining two chose to bury their loved ones immediately. As of the time of filing this report, the police had yet to issue an official statement on the incident.
About one week ago, the Benue State Police Command confirmed the killing of 17 individuals in the Logo and Ukum local government areas of the state. According to a statement by the Benue Command spokesperson, Catherine Anene, an armed group stormed the Sankera axis last Thursday evening, unleashing violence on the Gbagir area of Ukum and Katsina-Ala in Logo.
Benue State has been at the centre of persistent killings, with residents continuously calling for government intervention to end the unrelenting violence, often blamed on armed herdsmen. SBM Intelligence had noted that 300,000 persons have been displaced due to conflicts in Benue State.