Fulani terrorists launched a brutal assault on Ugboju community in Benue State, claiming the lives of at least fifteen individuals.
The terrorists, who have been conducting a series of attacks in the region over the past two weeks, targeted the village on Wednesday evening.
Many locals are still missing, and search parties are combing the area for additional victims. The bodies of the deceased were discovered on Thursday morning, leaving the community in a state of helplessness.
A villager, requesting anonymity, revealed that before noon, more bodies might be discovered as search parties continued to comb bushes for missing persons.
Prince Inalegwu Adakole Simon, a resident of the affected village, revealed that the attackers besieged the community around 3 pm on Wednesday, January 31.
Simon stated, “It was around 3pm on Wednesday, those attackers came to my village and killed 15 persons. Some persons have been displaced from home. Before now, we had no issue with them (terrorist).”
The member representing Agatu constituency in the State House of Assembly, Godwin Edoh, expressed frustration over the killings, emphasizing the urgent need for intervention.
“I’m frustrated as a representative of my people by their cries. I have forwarded all the gory photos of the bodies recovered to the WhatsApp lines of both the governor and his deputy,” he disclosed.
The spokesperson for the Benue State Police, Catherine Anene, noted that she had not yet received information about the incident from the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Agatu. However, she confirmed the deployment of multiple police teams to the area.
Anene told DailyTrust, “Let’s wait for the DPO, I will confirm from him. As we speak, there are so many police teams deployed to Agatu.”