THE crisis between Fulani herdsmen and Agatu farmers in Benue State assumed another dimension on Sunday, when suspected Fulani herdsmen were said to have launched an attack on the people at Ekwo Okpachenyi council area while at a burial site, killing about 45 people.
Governor Gabriel Suswam who spoke to newsmen after an emergency meeting with security chiefs on Monday, confirmed the attack on Agatu people, but explained that he could not give the actual figure of the casualty.
According to him, “the Fulani invasion on some parts of the state has continued unabated. Just Sunday evening, there was a fresh attack on people of Agatu. As a result of that, I have sent delegation to the place for an on-the-spot assessment. So I cannot say for now the number of people killed in the incident. Perhaps by tomorrow (today), we will be able to give the accurate things that happened there.
“But I can assure you that the security operatives are on top of the situation. As I am talking to you now, soldiers and mobile policemen have been drafted to the place to keep surveillance, so also other areas like Guma and other parts of Makurdi. If you notice you will discover that normalcy has returned to the area,” he said.
The governor promised that he would formally present the situation to the president, but assured that there was no cause for alarm.
This is just as he denied the rumours doing the round that the marauders were kept in the neighbouring state of Nasarawa.
According to eyewitnesses, people from the village were said to be at a burial site of one of the slain police officer in Nasarawa State, who hailed from the village, when the herdsmen launched the attack.
The liaison officer to Governor Suswam, Chief German Adobunu, who confirmed the report, expressed shock at the unprovoked attack at Ekwo-Okpanchenyi, adding that the suspected herdsmen struck immediately after the burial.
He said the herdsmen destroyed most of the houses at Ekwo-Okpanchenyi, forcing many of the residents to become displaced people in Apa and Otukpo local government areas, as well as part of Kogi State.
A member of state House of Assembly, Honourable Sule Audu, while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on phone, confirmed the report and put the casualty figure at 40.
Similarly, the state Commissioner for Works and Transport, Mr John Ngbede, who is an indigene of Agatu, described the attack as “an attempt to eliminate the people of the area,” stating that the attack came without any provocation.
In a swift reaction, the secretary of Miyetti Allah Cattle Rearers Association in Benue State, Garus Gololo, said the herdsmen attacked the Agatu people in order to recover their cows, numbered about 550, which he alleged were hijacked by the Agatu people.
Gololo, speaking with newsmen on phone, said people should know that the herdsmen valued their cows more than anything, alluding that the Agatu people were being economical with the truth.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel Ezeala, when contacted, said the police authorities were yet to confirm the number of casualties, adding that the command had deployed its men in the area.
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan, again, met with security chiefs early on Monday, the second time in less than a week.
At the meeting, held at his office, were all the service chiefs, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd); the Director-General, State Security Service (SSS), Mr Ita Ekpeyong and the Inspector General of Police, M. D. Abubakar.
Though nothing was disclosed about the meeting, it was expected to have been in connection with the recent killing of policemen by the Ombatse cult in Nasarawa State, as well as the insurgency by the Boko Haram sect in the North.
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