Less than 48 hours to the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Benue State on Wednesday in continuation of his presidential campaign, suspected armed Fulani mercenaries on Monday attacked the residence of Tomatar in Guma local government area of Benue State during which many people were displaced and scores of others missing.

New Telegraph gathered from local inhabitants that the invaders made incursion into the area in the early hours and were shooting sporadically.

An indigene of Tse-Tseghem, one of the communities worse hit in the attack, Mr. Dennis Mernyi who narrated the incident to our correspondent said he received a telephone call from his people that their village and other surrounding villages were under severe attack by the insurgents.

Mr. Mernyi disclosed that Tse Tseghem settlement is a riverine area where over 50 persons were massacred on New Year day in 2018.

According to him, “my brothers who are in the village called me on Tuesday morning that two people were shot dead, three houses burnt and a few other people sustained gunshot injuries during the attack”.

“The armed gangs engaged the Operation Whirl-Stroke (OPWS) of the Nigerian Army stationed in the area in a gun battle that lasted for several hours before they were pushed back to the neighbouring Nasarawa State”.

Confirming the invasion, Force Commander of the Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), Major General Adeyemi Yekini, told journalists that the armed mercenaries tried to invade Tomatar in Guma but his troops engaged them in a gun battle and inflicted heavy casualty on them.

Major General Yekini said his troops did not suffer any casualty in the battle.

He assured people of the state that the OPWS would continue to do its best to ensure the safety of lives and property of all by dislodging all armed criminals anywhere in the state.

•Sourced from a New Telegraph report

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