Three people, including a community chief, were on Monday, April 3, 2023, killed by suspected herdsmen at Igbobi in Apa Local Government Area of Benue State.
This came barely a day after some gunmen invaded a church, killed one worshipper and abducted three others during a vigil service.
Thenewsbearer learnt that the suspected herders started shooting indiscriminately as they stormed the village.
They were said to have abducted the community leader who was later killed.
In a telephone chat, the National Chairman of the Ikobi community development, Akpoko Eche, told newsmen that the suspected herdsmen had been terrorising the area since January this year.
Eche, who is also a legal practitioner, said: “There was an attack at Igbobi community which is adjacent to Ikobi. The community leader was abducted and killed along with two other persons.
He said that the attackers, whether called bandits or unknown gunmen, were suspected herdsmen. “They are killers. In fact, they started on 17th of January this year, so it is a renewed attack.
“It has been a routine, almost every year. During dry season, they come back and attack people, maim and rape women, and destroy their farm crops and houses.
“So, it has been a routine all this while.But this year’s own is colossal because they have wiped out almost 20 villages, if not more,” he stated.
The paramount ruler of Idoma nation, His Royal Majesty, John Elaigwu, also raised the alarm of incessant killings of his subjects by suspected herders.
In a statement issued through his media aide, Onuminya Odoba, the royal father said: “There have been a series of coordinated hostilities and violent attacks within the farming communities of Benue South, especially but not limited to Apa/Agatu corridor.
“The assailants are suspected herdsmen and cattle rearers who visit farms with hundreds of cows, destroying crops and livelihoods, maiming, raping, and killing innocent citizens and forcing many to leave their ancestral homestead.
“These recent attacks which have claimed not less than 75 lives and displaced thousands from their homes and businesses, unfortunately, brutally claimed the life of the Chief of Igbobi in Apa LGA yesterday, (April 3, 2023).”
However, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria,(MACBAN) in the state said those carrying out attacks on Apa LG were not known to them.
The association’s scribe, Ibrahim Galma who spoke to newsmen on the phone on Tuesday, said: “We don’t have people (herdsmen) in Apa. We don’t know them, we don’t have their leaders and we don’t know where they come from.”
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Catherine Anene, said she had yet to get any information on the incident.
