Suspected herdsmen on Sunday, March 3, attacked and killed five farmers in Udedeku community, Maav-Ya, Mkoonmom district, Mbaikyor Council Ward, Turan Jato-Aka Kwande local government area in Benue state.
An eye witness Terlumen Kwaghbee who escaped the attack told The Nation on the phone that suspected armed herdsmen stormed the community under the guise of grazing and opened fire on harmless farmers who were back from church service on Sunday morning.
Kwagbee said: “Five persons were killed at the spots, many others sustained various degrees of injuries, while houses were set ablaze.”
According to him, the bodies of those killed have been deposited at a morgue in the area.
The Nation investigation revealed that for more than 10 years, Moon district including five other council wards in Turan and three council wards in Ikyurav-Ya, all in Kwandel local government area in Benue state have been occupied by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives member, representing the Kwande/Ushongo federal constituency, Hon. Ugbor condemned the killings of his people by suspected herdsmen.
Hon. Ugbor said the people of Udeku village, Mbaikyor council ward of Turan are peaceful loving people, who are more concerned with their farming activities and called on security agencies to fish out the perpetrators.
In a statement signed by his special assistant on media and publicity, Dagu Fred, and made available to The Nation, he described the attack and killing as a setback in his effort to promote peace in his Kwande-Ushongo federal constituency.
Ugbor also called for better collaboration by all stakeholders, including security agencies, traditional rulers, policymakers, and governments at all levels to end the incessant killings in Kwande and the environs.
He called on security forces to move in and immediately quell the volatile situation in the constituency and provide relief materials to assist his displaced constituents who are currently in Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camps without means of livelihood.
Benue state police command said they are yet to get the report of the incidents from Kwande, which is in the Benue North senatorial zone and shares a boundary with Taraba and Cameroon.
