Two persons have been reported killed and several others injured after suspected herdsmen attacked Tse-Ikyaan village in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State.
While several persons were said to have escaped with gunshot injuries, not a few are believed to be missing.
The attack came barely six days after defence headquarters had announced ‘Operation Whirl Stroke’ in Benue State.
It was learnt that several gunmen militia with hundreds of their cattle have completely taken over the community.
Only last week, the remains of two Catholic priests – Rev Fathers Gor Joseph, Felix and 13 others – were laid to rest in Benue State. They were killed in cold blood during a morning Mass in their church.
The priests were among those killed when suspected herdsmen attacked Ayar Mbalom village in Gwer East Local Government Area, killing 19 persons and burning down over 35 houses.
Meanwhile, the President of the Tiv Development Association, Nasarawa State, Mr. Boniface Ifer, has revealed that the union had so far lost 200 farmers and 8,570 houses to endless herdsmen attacks in the southern district of the state.
Ifer said this during a town hall meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo during his recent visit to the state to assess the crisis.
Ifer said: “The killings are still ongoing in Tiv communities by suspected Fulani herdsmen. So far, we have lost over 200 farmers and over8,570 houses torched in the crises”
He called on the Federal government to provide adequate security so as to enable the displaced persons to return to their homes and continue their farming business now that the rainy season had started.
On his part, the Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, Nasarawa State, Alhaji Husseini Mohammed, claimed that 60 Fulani people and thousands of cows had also been killed by the Tiv militia from Benue State.
He, however, asked for the establishment of cattle colonies across the state, adding that doing so would go a long way in bringing to an end the herdsmen-farmers crisis.
Mohammed appealed to the Federal government to rehabilitate the victims affected by the crisis.