No fewer than 23 locals have been killed after suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked two communities in Benue State.
The attacks occurred on Monday night at Mbadwem and Tiortyu communities in Guma and Tiortyu Local Government Areas respectively, Mr. Nathaniel Ikyur, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue, said in a statement on Tuesday.
He said aside those killed many others were injured and have been taken to a hospital in the state for treatment.
According to him, during the attack on Mbadwem eight people were killed while, 15 others lost their lives in Tiortyu.
Ikyur said, “We are law-abiding citizens; we have cried for help against these invaders, but nothing is forthcoming,” Governor Ortom lamented. “We are left alone, and it looks like it is a deliberate strategy.
“Now we have only one option; to defend ourselves or get extinct. This is a case for our survival. We have been accommodating of other people in our land, but our hospitality is misconstrued as weakness. We are not a conquered people. We will never be. We are free-born citizens of Nigeria.”
In his reaction, Governor Ortom condemned the killings and asked the people of the state to rise to defend themselves forthwith.
“It is becoming increasingly glaring every day that my people are now an endangered species and so we can no longer wait for help from anywhere,” he was quoted as saying in the statement.
“My people will have to rise up to the occasion to defend themselves and their heritage against the Fulani army of occupation.”
He added that his government will not shy away from its responsibility of providing welfare and security for its people.
The governor urged security agencies to do more in crime prevention and protect the lives and properties of the people in the state.
Meanwhile a resident sent graphic photos of the carnage to CHECKPOINTCHARLEY. He said that the number of people killed in Mbadwem is 10, and not eight, adding that two others were abudcted.
See a photo below:
CHECKPOINTCHARLEY 