Angry youths in Benue State on Saturday blocked the busy Makurdi–Lafia–Abuja highway with the bodies of three victims allegedly killed by suspected armed herdsmen in fresh attacks on farming communities.
The protest, which paralysed traffic for hours between Makurdi and Daudu, followed renewed assaults on Abagena and Atsom villages in the outskirts of Makurdi Local Government Area, where three farmers were murdered in their fields around 8:30am.
The development came less than 24 hours after two other persons were reportedly killed in a similar raid on Tse Adaa village in neighbouring Guma LGA.
Eyewitnesses said the assailants stormed farmlands close to the expressway, killing three persons on the spot and abducting several others.
One of the protesters, who gave his name as Ushahemba, told PLATFORM TIMES that residents were thrown into panic as gunshots rang out near their farms.
“Our people went to farm this morning and suddenly we heard cries for help. The attackers struck just about one kilometre from the express road. Three bodies have been recovered but many others are still missing,” he said.
“Yesterday, two people were killed in Tse Adaa. We are tired of these killings. That is why we brought the corpses to the road so that government will see what we are facing.”
The protesters, who insisted that Governor Hyacinth Alia must address them before they dispersed, vowed not to abandon their farmlands despite the incessant assaults.
Security operatives, however, intervened to prevent the situation from degenerating. They persuaded the demonstrators to vacate the road and allow the free flow of vehicles.
When contacted for comments, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Udeme Edet, was unavailable as calls to his phone were not answered at the time of filing this report.
The latest incident adds to the long list of violent attacks that have plagued Benue, regarded as the “food basket of the nation,” raising fresh fears about food security and safety of rural dwellers in the state.
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