Death toll in fresh herdsmen attack in Benue rises to 18 - Monalisa Ugbe-Bergha

The death toll arising from the attack by herdsmen on some communities in Benue State at the weekend has risen to 18 persons. Anum Jov, a peasant farmer in the area, said that between Saturday evening and Sunday morning more bodies were recovered bringing the total to 18. However, Mr. Moses Yamu, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Benue State Command, said that he was yet to be briefed on the fresh bodies recovered but confirmed that five bodies were recovered as at Saturday morning. The herdsmen had on Saturday laid siege on Gabo village, Nenzev and Turan council ward, Logo Local Government Area (LGA) of the state where they killed the victims. It was further gathered that after the attack on the communities in Logo the herdsmen also engaged the Nongov community in Guma LGA in another encounter on their way back from their mission in Logo. However, as at the time of compiling this report, the number of casualties in Guma LGA was uncertain. Advertisement But commenting on the attack in Logo, Mr. Kester Terna Kyenge, a member representing Logo State Constituency, in the state House of Assembly, who received some of the mutilated corpses during an on-the-spot assessment to the affected communities, condemned the attack. The lawmaker who commiserated with families of the bereaved and addressed the displaced persons also held a meeting with stakeholders of the communities as well as security agencies to find a lasting solution to the attack which have become frequent in recent times. While he appealed to the relevant authorities to bring the perpetrators to book, he called on government to assist the displaced persons that fled their homes in the wake of the attack with relief materials. Moses Yamu, the PPRO, Benue State Command, who did not readily confirm the rising death toll, however, confirmed that five bodies were recovered, adding that one other person was still missing.