In a renewed vicious attack by suspected armed herdsmen, a soldier and two farmers have been killed with several others injured in separate attacks on Ochumekwu and Udedeku communities in Apa and Kwande Local Government Areas of Benue State.
Vanguard reports that the military personnel, attacked Sunday afternoon were part of the troops of the military spike operation, code named Operation Whirl Stroke, OPWS, deployed to the state to stem the activities of armed herdsmen and bandits terrorising the locals.
They were said to have come under attack while on patrol in the community.
The attack came as two others were killed and several others sustained injuries during a raid on Udedeku community of Maav-Ya, Mkoonmom district of Mbaikyor Council Ward, Turan Jato-Aka in Kwande LGA.
In a tweet lamenting the situation, Ier Jonathan-Ichaver, Co-Founder of Sesor Empowerment Foundation cried out that terrorist herdsmen at the weekend “continued their genocidal crimes against humanity in Kwande LGA of Benue.”
According to Vanguard, a source in the area said the armed herdsmen, who had already taken over five council wards in Turan and the three wards in Ikyurav Ya, invaded Udedeku community, where they ambushed the victims and slaughtered them like animals.
He said: “Apart from the two persons they killed, several others sustained injuries in the attack.
“At the moment, all the five council wards in Turan and the three in Ikyurav Ya, in Kwande East are occupied by the Fulani herdsmen.
“The people have fled their homes to seek refuge elsewhere for fear of being killed by the well-armed herdsmen.”
Confirming the attack on his troops, Force Commander of OPWS, Maj. Gen. Sunday Igbinomwanhia, informed that three of the marauders were killed in the offensive and several of their arms recovered.
He said: “The suspected armed herdsmen attacked the soliders deployed in Ochumekwu, Apa LGA. They killed one personnel and wounded one.
“The troops in response killed three and injured several of them. They recovered one AK-47 rifle and rounds of ammunition from them.”
On the incident in Kwande, he said: “OPWS is currently carrying out a clearance operation to flush out suspected armed foreign herders who have invaded the LGA.”
The International Crisis Group (ICG) which has long urged the Federal government to prosecute perpetrators of violence insists that the escalating conflict between herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria is “six times deadlier” than Boko Haram-related attacks, posing a great threat to the country’s stability.
