Bloodbath in Benue

SUSPECTED Fulani herdsmen
numbering about 70 on Sunday
slaughtered 95 people, mostly
women and children in Egba,
Agatu Local Government Area of
Benue State.
A survivor, who gave his name
simply as Oche, said the herdmen
arrived the village between 5am
and 6am and started attacking
them in their houses.
Oche did not give the number of
those wounded but he claimed to
have seen 80 dead bodies being
evacuated by security operatives
and volunteers.
He said,“They came with arrows,
locally-made guns and knives when
most of us were still asleep and
started killing us . It was a very bad
day for us. I believe that those
killed are between 95 and 100 as I
counted up to 80 bodies being
taken away by people in uniform.”
“Most of those slaughtered were
women, children and the aged.
Almost all the houses in the
community were razed by the
attackers.”
But the state Police
Commissioner, Hyacinth Dagala,
who confirmed the attacks, said
records before him showed that 30
people had been confirmed dead .
He added that he had already
directed the Area Commander to
ensure that adequate security was
provided in the area.
A lawmaker representing Apa/Agatu
in the state House of Assembly,
Audu Sule, said that over 60 bodies
were evacuated from the village.
The lawmaker, who said the
survivors were now taking refuge
in Obagaji/Ogbalu, the
headquarters of Agatu LGA, claimed
that the herdsmen escaped to
Nasarawa State after the attack.
The Benue State Peoples
Democratic Party deputy
governorship candidate, John
Ngbede, told The PUNCH on the
telephone that the Federal
Government needed to station
troops in communities in the state
prone to attacks by herdsmen.
A female lawyer and activist, Sonia
Ajoko, called on the state and
federal governments to
immediately send relief materials
to the survivors.
Ajoko said, “The loss is monumental
going by what we heard. Women
and children and the elderly were
killed. I therefore call on
governments at all levels to
declare a day of mourning and
commiseration with the bereaved
families.”
On February 11, 2015, about 30
people were feared killed with
many sustaining varying degrees of
injuries in the Logo LGA of Benue
State, after suspected Fulani
herdsmen sacked over 24
communities and villages in the
area.
Some of the affected communities
were Chembe, Tse-Mue, Tse-
Shigbe, Mgbakpa and Oragbai all in
the Ukemberagya council ward,
which is four kilometers away from
Anyiin, Governor Gabriel Suswam’s
country home.
Tragedy averted at IDP camp,
four suicide bombers killed
The Army has averted what would
have been a major tragedy at the
Internally Displaced Persons camp
in Maiduguri by successfully
defusing Improvised Explosive
Devices planted by a suspected
Boko Haram agent.
The camp is within the Government
Girls Secondary School in Yerwa,
the centre of the town and a few
metres away from the Borno
Express Motor Park, one of the
three places attacked a week ago
by Boko Haram insurgents.
Loud explosions from the scene of
the destruction made many
residents of the troubled
Maiduguri to desert the streets as
they felt that a fresh bomb attack
by Boko Haram insurgents had
taken place.
A member of the youth vigilante,
Ba’ana Goni, said the suspected
Boko Haram agent, who was earlier
arrested by soldiers, had been
living in the camp for about five
months as an IDP.
One of the IDPs, who declined to be
identified, told journalists on the
telephone on Sunday that the
explosives were buried by the
agent, who, according to him, fled
from Bama and took refuge in the
camp.
He explained that the agent was
arrested in a compound allegedly
used as a bomb-making factory by
Boko Haram.
The IDP said, “We were about
performing Magrib prayers in the
camp when soldiers in patrol
vehicles arrived and directed us to
assemble at a particular point.
“A few minutes later, they told us
that two bombs were planted in
the camp but that we should not
panic as the perpetrators had
promised to take them to the place
where the devices were planted.
“A soldier brought out a youth who
was blindfolded from one of the
patrol vehicles. The soldier then
unmasked the youth and to our
surprise, he was someone that we
all knew because of his friendly
disposition.
“The soldiers told us to remain in
one location as they were going to
defuse the IEDs. A soldier then
fired at the direction of one of the
planted explosives and it
immediately went off. Another did
the same at the direction of the
second bomb and it exploded
without causing harm to anybody.”
Saharareporters said in its report
on Sunday that a teenage girl blew
herself up when security agents
tried to arrest her in Kaga LGA,
Borno State. She was the only
casualty.
Also, three suicide bombers
heading towards a military
checkpoint along the Damaturu-
Maiduguri Road were killed before
they could reach their final
destination.