At least 36 persons have been confirmed killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Nyiev Council ward of Guma Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State by suspected herdsmen on Friday night.

The herders also razed down an undisclosed number of houses as well as set on fire barns of yam seedlings and other farm produce warehoused in the affected houses.

Most of the dead and wounded Sunday Independent learnt, were made up of women and children.

The incident is coming at the heels of the last killings by herdsmen in Umogidi community of Otukpo LGA of the state, where about 50 persons were killed on Tuesday and Wednesday this week (last week).

We also gathered that the attack which occurred at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp, Mgban in Guma LGA along the Makurdi-Lafia road took place between 9.pm and 10.pm on Friday night.

The assailants who carried out the attack on the peasant farmers at LGEA Primary School, Mgban, situated behind the house of Tyoor u Nyiev, Chief Bernard Shawa, also attacked some surrounding villages in the area.

Lamenting the increase in herdsmen attack on Benue communities, Governor Samuel Ortom, who confirmed the attack and number of deaths in Friday’s killings, noted that Tyoor u Nyiev, Chief Bernard Shawa, lost two of his children to the attack.

The governor, who conducted an on-the-spot assessment of the damage caused by the marauders, further lamented that with the spate of attacks across the state that have left over 100 dead in the last one week, if allowed to continue, the Benue people might be wiped out within a short time.

While he described the attack as “unfortunate and condemnable”, the state governor explained that it was for one of those reasons that the state government enacted the Anti-Open Grazing Law.

According to Governor Ortom, the Anti-Open Grazing Law was supposed to be a win-win for all; a law enacted by the Benue people, adding that the perpetrators are well known and should be fished out and punished for their acts.

The governor, who decried the attack, also stated: “We (Benue people) are law-abiding and will not be provoked to take up arms against anyone.”

Commending President Muhammadu Buhari for condoling with the people of Benue State, he advised that the president should go beyond that and do everything possible to smoke out the bandits from Benue State.

He further advised that whoever assumes the mantle of leadership after him and decides to repeal the Anti-Open Grazing Law would be welcome to do so, insisting that it would not happen under his watch.

Governor Ortom, who stressed that he would only repeal the law when the people were ready to do so, further advised the incoming leadership to adequately prepare for governance and should weight every words carefully before they voice it out.

He assured the people of the area that he would always stand by them and God would definitely help them and indeed the Benue people out of their predicament.

Meanwhile, Governor Ortom has said that Benue State government would hold an emergency Security Council meeting on Tuesday to find ways of ameliorating the current security challenges bedeviling the people of the state.

He observed a minute silence of prayer for the departed souls during the visit to the community.

Dr. Mike Ubah, Chairman, Guma LGA who appreciated the governor for always identifying with them at all times, lamented that despite all the governor had done to end the herdsmen attacks in the state, the issue had defied solution.

He stressed that the people of the state and the area had maintained their peace, inspite of the fact that they always identify most their neighbours among their attackers.

Ubah, also the Chairman of Association of Local Government Chairmen (ALGON) in the state, disclosed that two or more members of particular families were killed by the herders, including the son of the Tyoor inclusive.

On his part, Tyoor u Nyiev, Chief Bernard Shawa, in his narration, said he was at home and was outside at about 10.pm when they heard gun shots.

He explained that at first, he was not sure it was an attack until the gunshots grew louder and eventually he saw billows of smoke arising from houses that were set ablaze by the herders.

Chief Shawa further narrated that the assailants entered the classrooms housing the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) one after the other and shot their victims at close range, disclosing that 36 of them died instantly, while 39 were moved to the hospital for treatment.

NyiIsherev, a 75-year-old man who was shot in the buttocks in his attempt to flee from the attackers, described the moment as horrifying.

His 30-year-old son, who was in the same ward with him at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH), was shot in the thigh.

Sunday Independent reliably gathered that even though there were some security men around when the attack took place, they were overwhelmed by the number and firepower of the rampaging herdsmen.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the killings, including those in which people were killed in Umogidi community of Entekpa-Adoka in Otukpo Local Government Area of the state, urging that all efforts be made to end “extreme violence”.

The president condemned the use of terrorism as a tool in inter communal conflicts, urging that the attackers be found and dealt with swiftly under the law.

He conveyed his grief and sympathy to the families of those who lost their lives due to the attack and directed the secret services, police and military commanders to enhance surveillance on every front and to immediately review the security management in the affected areas.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those murdered. The entire nation stands united in the fight against the forces of terror and evil,” said the President. (Sunday Independent)

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