Gunmen Kill 13 In Fresh Benue Attack

Gunmen suspected to be herders have killed 13 people in a fresh attack on a community in Benue State.

They stormed Anwase Market in Mbaikyor, Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, while taking several market women captive before setting the market ablaze.

Speaking with Channels Television on Friday in a telephone, Ibi Andrew, an aide to the Kwande Local Government Chairman, Vitalis Neji, said 13 people were killed.

Ibi confirmed that the local government Chairman, working with security agencies, have mobilised to the area to restore calm and forestall further attacks on the people.

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An eyewitness said the attackers invaded the community from a nearby mountain, firing sporadically, which caused panic before setting stalls on fire and abducting women, fleeing towards the mountain area

However, the Benue State Police Command has yet to confirm the attack. Efforts to reach the Command’s spokesman, Udeme Edet, have proved abortive as she is not responding to messages sent to her phone.

This latest incident comes two days after gunmen struck the Abande community in the Kwande local government area.

At least 16 people were killed following the attack by suspected armed herdsmen on the settlement.

Residents said that the attack had been carried out on Tuesday afternoon at the Abande market while traders and buyers were conducting business.

Witnesses reported that the assailants had stormed the market, opened fire on civilians, looted shops, and set parts of the market ablaze.

A community leader and former supervisory councillor in Kwande LGA,  Lawrence Akerigba, stated that the attackers had carted away millions of Naira from traders before setting the market on fire.

He explained that since it had been Abande market day, people were buying and selling when the herders attacked.

He further noted that the attackers had looted shops and taken large sums of money, and he added that by 11:55 pm, some of the victims’ bodies were being conveyed to Jato-Aka by personnel of the Mobile Police Force stationed in the area.

Akerigba also stated that, apart from the locals who had lost their lives, a mobile police officer, said to have been the unit commander on duty at the time of the attack, had also been killed.

He stated that several residents were still missing and that searches for them were ongoing.

He lamented that the latest assault had forced people to flee their homes and had created fear among residents of Turan and neighbouring communities, where he claimed repeated attacks had continued unchecked. He concluded that the attack further proved the worsening security situation in Turan and remarked that they had no clear place of refuge or assurance of protection.