Armed herdsmen on Tuesday reportedly killed two soldiers and seven villagers, including the head of Eguma community in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State.
A former lawmaker who represented the LGA in the Benue State House of Assembly between 2011 and 2019, Audu Sule said the suspected herdsmen stormed Eguma at 3:00pm and started shooting sporadically resulting in the death of the victims.
This raises concerns if the Military will go after herdsmen and wipe them off and destroy their properties the way the did in Aba and Ogulagha cum Kiagbodo in Delta State last year, killing some people, arresting scores and destroying properties.
According to the former lawmaker, military personnel who were stationed in his village in Ogwule, a few meters away, responded to the distress call but two of the soldiers were killed by the suspected herdsmen, along with the Eguma village head and six others, bringing the casualty figures to nine.
He maintained that the attack was the fourth on Eguma and Ogwule villages of Agatu LGA in the last one month, stating that the people face security threats daily.
He explained that the military intervention led to a gun battle with the suspected herdsmen who fled after nine persons, including two soldiers, were killed.
Also speaking, a Senior Special Assistant to former Governor Samuel Ortom who hails from Agatu LGA said the herders stormed the communities on Tuesday afternoon and killed six members of the community.
“The soldiers were there but they refused to respond. So when these herdsmen finished with the community members, they went to the base of the soldiers and attacked them
“They [herders] snatched four of the soliders’ motorcycles, then killed two of their personnel. One of them who was declared missing yesterday reappeared today [yesterday].
“The entire Egwuma community has been deserted, there is nobody left behind again, except for the few soliders that are there,” he said.
Multiple sources in the community said the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Agatu LGA had officially informed the state government of the development but the reaction of the government was still being awaited as of the time of filing this report.
Local sources said the herdsmen had earlier attacked the community a few months ago and that no fewer than 12 persons were reportedly killed in the previous attack before soldiers were drafted to the area.
They lamented that the presence of soldiers in the communities has not served as deterrence to the herdsman who have continued to attack the communities at will.
“This is a terrible situation. We need more presence of armed security personnel in the community. Nobody knows the mission of these invaders”, one of the community leaders who simply gave his name as Olikita said.
When contacted the Benue State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Catherine Anene said the command had yet to receive any information about the killings.
But the Caretaker Chairman of Agatu LGA, Philip Ebenyakwu confirmed the incident. He said, “Yes, there was a serious attack in Egwuma yesterday and we lost about six lives including two soldiers.
“The incident happened around after 5pm. They were coming from Kogi state because we have a common boundary with them from the Guma axis.
“They crossed in from Kogi state, took the soldiers by surprise and began to shoot sporadically.
They killed six persons with two soldiers and took their guns and ran away. We also have other casualties”The chairman said security personnel were being mobilised for deployment in the area.
