Suspected herdsmen, yesterday, attacked Waku village and a part of Gbajimba town, all in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, killing two persons, and destroying Governor Samuel Ortom’s farmhouse in fresh attacks in the area.
The latest attack came less than 24 hours after Yogbo, another community in the same local government area, also came under heavy attack by suspected herdsmen which left six persons dead and several property and farmlands destroyed. However, the attack on Yogbo was repelled by the Police, who chased the invaders out of the community.
Confirming the latest attack at the State Police Command Headquarters, the Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni and Chairman of Guma Local Government Area, Mr. Anthony Shawon, said the herdsmen, who were backed by militant gangs, stormed the communities in the afternoon, yesterday. “The herdsmen, backed by their militia, invaded Waku village this afternoon (yesterday) and killed two persons.
They are also getting close to Gbajimba town, the local government headquarters and as I speak with you, they have attacked and sacked Governor Ortom’s farmhouse in Gbajimba. “Our fear is that if we are not careful, they might overrun the local government headquarters the way they are going.” Shawon, who commended the Police for saving Yogbo from being taken over by the marauding herdsmen, urged the command to continue to put up a brave fight and continue to sustain the resistance against the herdsmen’s incursion.
Police have deployed more men — Owoseni Earlier, the Commissioner of Police reiterated the commitment of the command to ensure the restoration of peace in all the troubled communities in the state, with a view to having all the internally-displaced persons return to their ancestral homes. “Already, the Inspector-General of Police had approved and deployed 15 mobile units of the Force from other states to Benue State; this is aside from the Special Forces that have also been deployed to the state. “We have also concluded arrangements to deploy more personnel to Guma to flush out the criminal elements operating there.
“We have also deployed to these areas two Armoured Personnel Carriers which were released to us by the DIG out of the five we requested for. “Police visibility, intelligence capacity as well as the deployment of technical assets have already been done in that area and in no distant time, these issues will be a thing of the past,” Owoseni assured.
