Former Senate President, David Mark, has condemned in strong terms, the recent attacks in Otukpo and Ado local councils of Benue State, which left at least 15 people dead on Tuesday night.
In a statement by his Special Adviser, Paul Mumeh, Mark described the killings as “one too many” and called on security agencies to urgently rise to the occasion.
He said, “This is no longer a random occurrence. It appears to be an organised and premeditated onslaught. We cannot continue to sit back and watch our people being slaughtered for no reason.”
Also, Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, has raised the alarm over attacks on the Otobi community in Otukpo Local Council, describing them as acts of land grabbing disguised as random violence.
Alia, while speaking in an interview with AIT yesterday, confirmed that 11 people were killed, several others injured, and many homes were burnt during the attack.
The attackers, described as “horrible, terrible fighters,” reportedly launched an unprovoked assault, indiscriminately killing residents and forcing entire communities to flee in fear.
According to the governor, these attacks follow a disturbing pattern.
“They come, kill anyone in sight regardless of ethnicity, drive everyone out, and after a few weeks, they return in full force for occupation,” he said.
Mark stressed the need for communities to form vigilance groups to defend themselves and their property, noting that the security situation in parts of Benue requires immediate and serious attention.
Mark, who encouraged Benue people to remain accommodating, urged them to be cautious and be able to distinguish between genuine residents and hostile intruders.
Meanwhile, armed Fulani herdsmen militia were sighted by locals arriving with a multitude of cattle in communities around the Zaki Biam Yam Market, which is located in the Ukum Local Council of the state.
The bewildered locals were, yesterday, confronted by the strange gun-wielding strangers in broad daylight openly flaunting their weapons and walking about freely at the Chito Village Market Square.
A resident of Chito (names withheld) told The Guardian that “there are more militant herdsmen in my hometown, Chito in Ukum Local Council with AK 47 rifles. They were forcing themselves into people’s houses and displacing them, not minding if they had any place to go. It has been 72 hours of terror and no single word from any security agency.”
