Fears rocks Benue a second time, has herdsmen strike again,kills 81

Pandemonium has rocked Benue state as herdsmen have carried out deadly attacks. About 81 people have been reported killed in two local governments of the state.

Herdsmen sack villages in Benue

According to survivors and eyewitnesses of the herdsmen attacks; Turan, Mbagber, Yonov and Tombo communities in Logo were attacked on the same day while Varser in Ukum Local Government came under siege, leaving another 53 persons dead.

The traditional ruler of Logo, Chief Jimmy Meeme, while speaking to Channels Television on the invasion of rural communities said 70 persons were killed in six out of the

Ugwuanyi stops Fulani anti herdsmen protest in Enugu.

Enugu State Governor, Chief Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi Saturday stopped the massive protest organized by the Catholic Church Enugu diocese against the attacks perpetrated by suspected Fulani herdsmen in the state.

The Catholic Church in Enugu had last Sunday announced its plan to embark on a mass protest which would take off from the Holy Ghost Cathedral Ogui New Layout and end at the Government House, at the Independence Layout, Enugu where the protesters were to register their complaints to the Governor.

But a security meeting reportedly held last night at the Government House, Enugu came up with the conclusion that the proposed peaceful protest could be hijacked by hoodlums, hence the Governor and the security chiefs in the state moved in to contain the protest within the confines of the Cathedral, according to Ugwuanyi’s aide, who pleaded anonymity.

Addressing the crowd during the prayerful procession in the large compound of the Cathedral, the Catholic Bishop of Enugu, His Grace, Dr. Callistus C. V. Onaga said: “Our Governor is part of what we are doing here today and that’s

Farmers/herders clash! Eight persons killed in Adamawa

 Eight villagers killed in herder/farmer clash in Adamawa

Kabiru R. Anwar,Yola

At least 8 persons died in a clash between herdsmen and farmers in Koh community in Girei Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

‎Residents said  the two communities clashed on Saturday afternoon after a herdsman trespassed into  a farmland and the owner raised an alarm, causing the Fulani man to flee.

He added that the farmer then mobilised his kinsmen who went after the escaping man who then alerted other herders to confront the farmers, resulting in to a clash.

There has been series of  clashes between the cattlemen and villagers in the area culminating in the killing of a 10 - year old Fulani boy

and a subsequent attack on Koh community that left more than 40 villagers dead earlier this year.

Eye witnesses reported that 8 villagers died in the Saturday clash while  7 injured were rushed to the Specialist Hospital and Zenith Hospital in Yola.

A politician from the area, Phineas Elisha said he lost two  relatives including a police man who was on leave.  He clarified that the police man was killed by a stray bullet when he was running for safety.

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relation Officer in the state, DSP Abubakar Othman said one person was killed and two were injured in the clash.

Othman said the situation was under control as police men had since deployed to restore peace in the communities.

Herdsmen attack in ekiti, residents blame for not acting fast instead requested for 12,000 naira

Ado-Ekiti – Residents of Oke Ako community in Ikole Local government area of Ekiti state have blamed police in the area for failing to act swiftly on Friday night when the community was thrown into mourning, wailing and gnashing of teeth, by suspected killer herdsmen who invaded the town, leaving two dead and several others wounded.

One of the residents, Muyiwa Olukosi whose wife sustained matchete wound, told newsmen that the case was reported to police in the area stressing that there was no response from them.

One of those injured by the killer herdsman in Ekiti stateAccording to him, the police demanded for a sum N12,00 before they could move to the scene as he said police complained of no fuel in their hilux van.

Olukosi who maintained that things would have gone worst more than what one could imagine if not for the prompt response of a team of the Nigerian Army from Akure, even before the arrival of police in the area also noted that the attack would have been prevented had the police acted swiftly during the attack.

He called on the Governments at all levels to beef up security in the area in order to avert the re-occurrence of such development.

On the attack another eyewitness told journalists that the incident in which the entire village was sacked occurred at about 8:00 pm on Friday.

A woman, who identified herself as Mrs Grace Olofin, had during in a telephone chat alleged that the killer herdsmen invaded the community in large numbers, caught the people of the community unawares, adding that the invaders were armed with dangerous weapons like automatic guns, bows, arrows, swords, matchetes, hacking and mauling their victims with reckless abandon.

Olofin further alleged majority of the villagers had to scamper for safety in the bushes to escape the onslaught of the killer herdsmen, who according to her were hacking the hapless villagers with their deadly weapons.

She said the invaders had shot sporadically into the air and killed one Lekan Arosanyin and a yet to be identified person, while four others sustained various degrees of injuries and were said to be receiving treatment at a private hospital in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.

Another witness , who narrowly escaped being killed, Adebayo Ajayi, described the incident as a reprisal attack as he said that the herdsmen had previously fallen out with the villagers over their grazing activities in the community.

He further explained that the villagers had been resisting the use of their farmlands as grazing fields by the herdsmen.

The Divisional Police Officer in the area who also spoke on telephone interview confirmed the incident noting that he could not ascertain whether the incident was armed robbery or Fulani herdsmen attack .

Court jails two herdsmen in Delta

A state High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta State has sentenced two herdsmen – Hassan Abidu and Yakubu Salem – to 20 years in jail with hard labour.

The duo are believed to be members of a group of armed nomads terrorising indigenes of Ibusa and its environs in Oshimili North Local Council of the state.

The trial judge (name withheld) yesterday found the two nomads guilty on a two-count charge of unlawful possession of firearms preferred against them by the state Attorney-General, punishable under Section 3 (1) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provision) Act Cap R.II, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2010.

The pair were each sentenced to 10 years imprisonment without an option of fine.

According to the prosecution, on or about February 23 last year and at about 0600 hours, the Ibusa Police Division received a distress call that a group of suspected herdsmen numbering about six were sighted around the Power Line area of the town armed with dangerous weapons, including firearms.

He said a team of anti-robbery personnel, on a tip-off, arrested Abidu and Salem and found on them of two unlicensed single barrel guns, which they claimed were for hunting.

According to him, the convicts feigned ignorance of the implications of going about with unauthorised firearms.

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Cattle rearing, night grazing banned in Enugu

Grazing and rearing of cattle at night was yesterday banned in Enugu State after a meeting between Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and leaders of Fulani/Shuwa Arab herdsmen in the state.

Also banned are the carrying of firearms or any form of ammunition by the herdsmen and movement of cattle from one location to another at night in the state.

This decision was arrived at during a peace committee meeting made up of representatives of the various interest groups from the Fulani/ Shuwa Arab Community and representatives and security agencies, among other stakeholders in the state.

During the meeting convened by Ugwuanyi, and also attended by leaders of some communities affected by the herdsmen menace in the state, it was also decided that compensation would be paid by herdsmen whose cattle destroyed farm crops while the communities would pay for any cattle killed by their members.

Ugwanyi had convened the meeting in furtherance of ongoing efforts by the state government to find lasting solutions to the lingering clashes between Fulani herdsmen and their host communities,especially in the wake of the recent Nimbo killings.

According to the decision, violators of these resolutions would be made to face the full wrath of the law.

Present at the meeting were the secretary of the Fulani Community in the state, Bala Ardo, the leader of the Fulani community, Alhaji AdoSaidu Basu, and the leader of the Shuwa Arab community in the state, Alhaji Ahmed Yahaya, while the traditional ruler of Ibute Nze led leaders of three communities of Akpakwume, Ezi Nze and Ibute Nze communities in Udi council area of the state who also attended the meeting.