Gunmen kill 9 in fresh attack in Benue
Gunmen
By ‘Samson Kukwa-Yanor, Makurdi
Barely one week after gun men attacked and killed defenceless citizens at Angwan Rukuba in Plateau state on palm Sunday, the Director General Bureau for Homeland security, Benue state, Air Commodore Jacob Gbamwuan (rtd) has confirmed another attack in the Mbalom community, Benue state.
When The Guardian contacted the chairman of Gwer local government council Timothy Adi under who’s jurisdiction Mbalom falls, he said that the bodies of 9 victims have been found. The tenth victim, he said was not dead but in a critical condition. Adi said that he was just leaving the hospital were the victim was receiving treatment.
Philip, a resident of Mbalom told The Guardian that the assailants stormed the community in the early morning of Saturday but were resisted by the youths and were forced to retreat only to return at night that same day and successfully carry out the attack.
Philip said that the community had gotten wind of the planned attack at least four days earlier and had informed all the relevant authorities. He said that the community which had suffered several such attacks in the past had reported the presence of strange armed men some days earlier before the attack. He said that only men fell victim because they had already relocated the women and children out of the community before the eventual attack.
This is not the first armed attack on the community. On April 24, 2018, two Catholic Priests and 17 parishioners were killed by gun men during early morning mass at the St Ignatius Catholic church, Mbalom. The Catholic Priests Rev Fr Joseph Gor and Rev Fr Felix Tyolaha along with the 17 victims were given a state burial by the Benue state government.
Meanwhile, governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue state issued a statement on Sunday in Makurdi condemning the attack. Alia in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary Tersoo Kula said that he “strongly condemns the heinous attack carried out by suspected armed herdsmen on the peace-loving people of Mbalom in the Gwer-East Local Government Area”.
The governor said that he considers “the barbaric act unacceptable, and a direct affront to the collective peace and security of the state”.
According to the governor who also commiserated with the families of the bereaved, he has noted “with grave concern the pattern of what appears to be calculated and selective attacks in parts of the state, stressing that such acts of terror, though increasingly hydra-headed in nature, would not be allowed to thrive.”
GUARDIAN Newspapers.