Angry Benue youths barricade highway with five corpses of armed herdsmen victims

By Peter Duru, Makurdi

Angry protesters Saturday greeting blocked the engaged Makurdi-Lafia-Abuja road with the corpses of 3 persons reportedly murdered Saturday greeting successful their farms by suspected equipped herdsmen astatine Abagena and Atsom villages successful the outskirts of Makurdi Local Government Area, LGA, of Benue state.

The onslaught came little than 24 hours aft 2 others were killed by the marauders successful a abstracted onslaught astatine Tse Adaa colony successful neighbouring Guma LGA.

The protesters who trooped retired successful their numbers from their villages arsenic aboriginal arsenic 9am took implicit the engaged roadworthy betwixt Makurdi and Daudu, disrupting each vehicular movements from Makurdi and Abuja.

According to 1 of the protesters who simply identified himself arsenic Ushahemba, the equipped herders attacked the victims successful their farms, killed 3 and took respective others hostage.

He said: “Our radical went to the workplace this greeting and astatine astir 8:30am determination were cries for assistance from the farms aft they got attacked. There was pandemonium, radical started moving with their families.

“The attacks happened conscionable astir 1 kilimeter from the explicit road. They killed immoderate of those they reached successful the workplace and took distant immoderate of the victims.

“Three bodies person truthful acold been recovered portion hunt for much corpses is ongoing due to the fact that respective persons are inactive missing.

“Our radical cannot adjacent spell precise acold into the bush wherever much corpses could beryllium discovered due to the fact that nary 1 knows wherever the attackers are astatine the moment.

“Just yesterday 2 others were killed astatine Tse Adaa colony not acold from present successful neighbouring Guma LGA. The question is erstwhile volition each these killings stop?

“And the lone mode the radical tin expressed their choler is to bring the corpses to the roadworthy to fto the authorities recognize what we are going done and the request to extremity these attacks successful bid to let retired radical cultivate their farmland.

“The radical were besides asking for the Governor to travel and code them earlier the permission the highway.”

It was nevertheless gathered that information unit who were drafted to the assemblage to guarantee that the concern did not escalate prevailed connected the protesters to unfastened up the road.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent, DSP, Udeme Edet could not beryllium reached for comments.

The station Angry Benue youths barricade road with 5 corpses of equipped herdsmen victims appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.