- About 60 people have died following
seperate attacks by herdsmen in Benue
state
- Suspected Fulani herdsmen have
continued to plague agrarian communities
in Benue
- Governor Ortom has declared that all
Fulani herdsmen must leave the state with
immediate effect
- A special team of policemen have landed
in Benue to put an end to the menace
Emerging reports show that the death
toll between 10th to 20th March has
risen to 60 in Benue state, following
alleged attacks by suspected Fulani
herdsmen.
A special tactical force assigned by the
Nigeria’s police chief, Ibrahim K Idris,
to deal with the continuing violence, has
landed in the state.
The police special tactical force is to
comprise of Police Mobile Force (PMF
specially trained Anti Riot Policemen),
Counter Terrorism Units, Conventional
Policemen, Special Anti Robbery Squad,
SIB, detachment of EOD, Police K9
(Sniffer Dogs Section), Police Air wing
(Aerial Surveillance Helicopters) and
other undercover operatives.
According to a police statement
obtained by NAIJ.com , the police special
tactical force is led by the commissioner
of police in charge of PMF, Force
Headquarters in Abuja, under the
supervision of deputy Inspector General
of Police, department of operations.
Ben Ahmed, the leader, assured people
of the state on Thursday, March 23, that
the situation will be brought under
control.
He made the statement while presenting
members of the team to Governor
Samuel Ortom at the Benue Peoples
House, Makurdi.
The attack on Friday March 10, began in
Mkgovur village, on the outskirts of
Buruku town. When the Hausa Fulani
Muslim herders were prevented from
grazing their cattle on the farms of the
indigenous Christian community, they
came back later, armed with
sophisticated weapons.
They shot and killed anything in sight.
By the time the villagers realised, about
ten people had been killed; several
others were missing. Others had to flee
to the neighbouring Gboko Local
Government Area.
UPDATE: 60 Killed as herdsmen carryout several
attacks in Benue state - Police chief
Mallam Garus Gololo, Chairman of the
Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’
Association (an umbrella organisation
that looks after the interests of the
Hausa Fulani Muslim herders across
West Africa), denied that the attack was
carried out by the herders in Benue
state.
He claimed that the attackers were not
the ‘ordinary’ Fulani who, he said, ‘have
no other interests than to look after
their herds.’ He told This Day Live that
they may have come from another
Middle Belt State, Taraba.
There are also reports that this
particular Fulani group are too heavily
armed and very sophisticated, that they
seem to come from places beyond
Nigeria, as the Governor of a third
Middle Belt state, Kaduna, has affirmed
about Fulani attacks in his state.
However, the recent Fulani attackers
appeared to have a good geographical
knowledge of the local communities and
the villages. After the attack in
Mkgovur, another attack was carried out
two days later in the village of Tombo-
Mbalagh, Buruku LGA. This Hausa
Fulani Muslim herdsmen attack was
directed mostly against an unarmed
Christian population going about its
normal business. About eight people
were killed and three others were
reported missing.
There are other attacks that have been
recorded within the given time frame.
CP Ahmed said President Muhammadu
Buhari was deeply worried at the
happenings in Benue and the
deployment of the tactical team was in
response to the call of Governor Ortom.
He pleaded with the people of Benue to
avail both the existing security men and
the Special Tactical Team the needed
information that could ease the
operation.
In his response, Governor Ortom
expressed appreciation to President
Buhari for the swift response to his
distress call.
The Governor noted that his government
had been proactive in handling security
issues and with the combined force of
the visiting team, unimaginable success
would be recorded.
He recalled the efforts of his
administration in recovering over 700
weapons from youths of the state
through the carrot approach of the
Benue amnesty programme, saying the
situation would have been worse if the
weapons were still in the custody of
hoodlums.
The governor pointed out specifically
that Terwase Akwaza also known as
Gana and members of his gang who
masterminded the recent Zaki Biam
attacks must be fished out and brought
to justice.
It would be recalled that in a recent
interview with Channels Television on
Wednesday, March 15 , the state
governor, Samuel Ortom confirmed that
there is a limit to which he can ask the
people of the state to be patient.
He said if the federal government did
not intervene, locals say retaliatory
attacks will not be ruled out.
He expressed disappointment over the
careless statements credited to the
governor of Rivers State, Nyelsom Wike
who has called for state of emergency in
Benue.
Governor Ortom pointed out that the
spate of killings in Rivers is far higher
than Benue, describing the statement of
his Rivers counterpart as unfortunate.
He maintained that rather than
sympathise with Benue at this time of
pain, Governor Wike had chosen to
mock the state, praying that God should
forgive the Rivers governor.
Governor Ortom sued for cooperation
from both security men and the people
of the state for improved security.
http://mygistloaded..com/2017/03/herdsmen-assaults-60-killed-in-assaults.html

na wa oo,buhari the deaf cow, never hear this one yet, but he has heard about the London attack..what a cow!!

Let us see if mother Theresa will also return favour by sending a condolence tweet.

Studentcosmos:
Let us see if mother Theresa will also return favour by sending a condolence tweet.

Odiegwu

God help Nigeria !

animal kingdom.