No fewer than seven people have been killed in a fresh attack on the Agbo Vengav Udam community in the Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State by suspected armed herders.
Residents told the press that the assailants stormed the village around 7 pm on Thursday and opened fire indiscriminately, killing seven on the spot and abducting three others.
According to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity, the attackers entered the community through a border village in Otukpo LGA of Benue state.
“They passed through the border village of Otukpo, and, entering into Agbo, they shot their guns sporadically, killing the seven people on the spot. They took away three people with them,” a resident of the affected community who did not want to state his name said.
It was reported that an infant was among those killed and that the mother was seized by the perpetrators.
The witness went on to say that five of the remains had been deposited in a mortuary in Naka, while the families of the other two had chosen to bury their loved ones as soon as possible.
According to residents, the incident has forced them to flee their houses in fear of additional attacks.
Victor Ormin, Chairman of Gwer West LGA, verified the event to our correspondent over the phone on Friday.
Omin, who lamented that the incident erupted after commercial cars were hijacked and passengers abducted, condemned the actions of suspected armed herders in the local government.
The council boss said, “It’s true that scores of people were killed at Vengav Udam village within the local government Thursday night.
“Two people who are critically injured during the attack are receiving treatment in Naka hospital, and the situation is becoming unbearable, the way these armed herders are wreaking havoc in the local government and the state as a whole.”
At the time of filing this report, the Benue State Police Command had yet to comment on the attack.
