A retired army officer and 15 others were reportedly killed by suspected armed herdsmen in a Thursday evening attack on Wandor, Mbaikyor community in the Mbalom Council Ward of Gwer East Local Government Area, LGA, of Benue State.
The invaders were also reported to have razed over 50 houses, huts, farmlands, and food barns in 11 settlements in the attack.
The latest attack came about six years after a similar attack by armed herdsmen on St. Ignatius Catholic Church, Ukpor Parish, Mbalom Gwer East LGA claimed the lives of two Catholic priests and 17 parishioners.
A survivor of the attack who spoke on condition of anonymity said the well-armed marauders, numbering about 40, stormed the community at about 7 p.m. and opened fire on the locals who were taken unaware.
He said, “They came through Mbasombo into our village. There is a Fulani settlement close to the boundary between Ihyravye and Ayar. We know the Alhaji who has caused this because we had earlier arrested three of his boys and handed them over to the police at Aliade. It was documented. But the boys were later released.
“It is that Alhaji that is operating on this axis. In fact, a retired military officer who was following up on the case, MWO Mbatsavbun Gbatar (retd.), who is the community security adviser who reported the case, was among those killed.
“They took us by surprise. They came numbering over 40 at about 7 p.m.; some had guns and others had cutlasses. And the operation lasted for over three hours. As I’m talking to you now, over 50 houses have been burnt.”
Continuing, he said, “Immediately they came and started shooting. I put a call through to someone and asked him to tell the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, what was happening. If we had immediate interventions, they probably wouldn’t have set the houses ablaze. One of the victims was burnt alive in a house; we had to wrap him up and take him out of his house.”
According to him, among the communities razed by the marauders were Tse-Agernor, Tse-Najime, Tse-Wandor, Wandor Market Square, Tse-Ate, Tse-Anyol, Tse-Abagi, Tse-Ifian, Tse-Ukombor, Tse-Girgi Akwaya, Tse-Tion Ukpa, and Tse-Abuur.
Confirming the development, the caretaker chairman of Gwer East LGA, Mrs Comfort Agbo, said, “At the moment, there is relative peace in Wandor community. 16 bodies have so far been recovered. Two were injured and are receiving treatment.
“Those who attacked and killed my people are suspected armed herdsmen. The security operatives are currently moving the bodies to the mortuary.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent, SP, Catherine Anene, who confirmed the development, said the Police Commissioner was on his way to the scene of the attack for an on-the-spot assessment.
The Benue State Deputy Governor, Dr. Sam Ode, was said to have also led a delegation to the community.
Reacting, the sociocultural group of the people of the area, the Masev Development Association, MDA, in a statement by its President General, Prof. Vearumun Tarhule, made available to newsmen in Makurdi by the Media Adviser of the MDA, Dr. David Mtswenem, expressed shock at the brutal murder of the innocent people of the area and the razing of the ancestral homes of the people.
The group “expressing bewilderment at the continuous vulnerability of innocent citizens to attacks by bandits. And fervently prayed for divine mercy and assistance in every aspect of this devastating situation.”
Part of the statement further read, “Prof. Tarhule highlighted the repeated calls to the government authorities for the protection of people’s lives and properties, which have sadly gone unheeded.
“Further lamenting the systematic targeting of ethnic nationalities and the decimation of Nigerians, especially the Tiv people, over the past two decades, Prof. Tarhule called upon the federal, state, and local government authorities to fulfil their statutory and constitutional responsibilities by safeguarding lives and properties at all times and in all places.
“As the sociocultural leader of the Masev people worldwide, Prof. Tarhule appealed to the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, local government authorities, corporate organisations, and well-meaning individuals to provide any form of assistance to the devastated, traumatised, and Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, in Wandor, Mbaikyor.
“He expressed hope for adequate security mobilisation and urged for the apprehension of the perpetrators to face the full force of the law.
“It is noteworthy that this is the third attack by Fulani herdsmen militia in the Mbalom community of Gwer East LGA. Similar attacks occurred in 2014 at Agana, Mbatsada, and on April 24, 2018, when Rev. Fr. Joseph Gor, Fr. Felix Tyolaha, and seventeen parishioners were killed during morning Mass at St. Ignatius Quasi Parish Ayar-Mbalom in Ubuluku Kindred.
“The recent attack at Wandor, Mbaikyor, raises the pressing question: when will this end? How can our people sleep with their eyes closed? With the farming season approaching, how will our people return to their farms when their properties are destroyed and they are displaced? These are the urgent concerns that demand immediate attention and action.”