Three villagers have been reportedly killed at the weekend by armed invaders who launched a fresh attack on Adaka community in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State.
Residents said that the attacks which happened on Saturday caused pandemonium in the community even as many of the villagers have deserted their homes for fear of further invasion.
The locals explained that the attackers besieged the community and shot sporadically during which they killed three people and left several others injured.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for the Benue Command, SP Catherine Anene, did not respond to calls or text message sent to her telephone.
But, Lt. Col. Paul Hemba, the Benue State Special Adviser on Security Matters said to journalists in Makurdi, “On Friday, Adaka community reported that one of their sons, who reside there went out with some two persons who came to with an intent to rent a piece of land to farm rice. He left with the two people to show them the land. But the people noticed that he never came back up till the evening of that day.
“The community raised the alarm, they alerted me. I got in touch with security personnel patrolling the area, this includes the police and military. I called them. But they said they did not have information on any missing persons. I was informed of the development at night, so we waited till Saturday morning and sent out patrols including members of the community. In the course of the patrol, we discovered the corpses of the missing three persons brutally killed obviously with machete.
“And the community is suspecting that herdsmen murdered the victims. This is because the herdsmen have been operating in their vicinity. Additionally, just last week, the herdsmen alleged that some of their cows which invaded the people’s rice farms were killed in that community. The Commissioner of Police is investigating the incident. The community is suspecting that the gruesome murder of the three was a reprisal,” Hemba posited.
