By Sam Tyav, Makurdi
Barely 24 hours after suspected killer herdsmen attacked Otobi in Otukpo Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State, about three communities in the same LG were again reportedly attacked by armed herdsmen on Wednesday, April 16.
The affected communities, Emichi, Okpomaju and Odudaje, reports said, were simultaneously attacked in a seemingly well-coordinated operation.
Checks revealed that there were casualties but it was not yet clear if there were deaths or even the number recorded so far.
But a resident of the area who spoke to Peopleandpolitics.net said that residents who sustained gunshot wounds were rushed to hospital for medical attention even as many persons in the affected communities as well as those in neighbouring villages fled their homes to save their precious lives.
A source disclosed that several children and women had been evacuated elsewhere and abandoned in some parts of the communities with only young men choosing to remain inside the villages proper to defend their localities.
It was also learned that Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has confirmed the arrest of three suspected herders in connection with the Otobi village killings which occurred on Tuesday night.
Chairman of Otukpo LGA, Mr. Maxwell Ogiri, confirmed the latest attack on the three communities.
Giving more details, he said the attackers stormed the communities at a time the State Police Commissioner, Hassan Steve Yabanet, was visiting at the palace of the Och’Idoma, HRM John Elaigwu Odogbo, in Otukpo town.
According to him, about three persons sustained various degrees of injuries during the attacks.
The LG Chair lamented what he described as the calculated and unprovoked attacks, saying the incidents had led to the abandonment of women and children in parts of the affected communities.
The Chairman explained that “only young men were in the communities when the attackers arrived.”
He also revealed that following the prompt response from combined teams of security operatives to distress calls by the men, the attackers fled the areas even as none of them was arrested.
The attack on Otobi community which happened a full day before the attack on the three communities, led to the death of 13 persons, including children, even as corpses have been recovered.
At the time of filing this report, there was no official statement from the State Police Command as the spokesperson, Catherine Anene Serwuese, had yet to respond to calls and messages.
