A year after Muslim Fulani herdsmen slaughtered an estimated 300 predominantly Christian farmers in Agatu, Benue state, deadly attacks continued in the state the first 10 weeks of the year, sources have told Morning Star News.
The organisation reports that more than 29 Christians in Agatu and other rural areas were reported to have died in attacks on predominantly Christian communities in Nigeria’s Benue state this year.
In the latest, suspected Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed at least six Christians in Tombo-Mbalagh, Buruku Local Government Area (LGA), last Saturday, according to local reports.
Justina Sorkaa, sole administrator for the council area of Buruku LGA, told reporters on Monday that the victims were members of area congregations of the Anglican Communion. She said the bodies had wounds from bullets and machete cuts.
Last year between 22nd and 29th February, Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacked predominantly Christian Agatu, killing an estimated 300 people. The heavily-armed herdsmen reportedly slaughtered at least eight others on 8th March, 2016 in Benue’s Logo LGA.
Benue Governor Samuel Ortom on Monday told reporters in Ugba village, which was attacked on Saturday, that incessant Muslim Fulani herdsmen assaults have been unwarranted, and that security agencies have failed to make any arrests.
“My people are killed, displaced, vulnerable and above all, rendered homeless in their fatherland,” said Governor Ortom, a Christian.
Ochepo Entonu Adamu, a member of the National Assembly, told reporters this week that the attacks on 9th March in Agatu LGA were particularly gruesome.
“There is mayhem going on, as women and children are being raped while the men who try to react are being hacked to death,” he said in Abuja.
Entonu Adamu, who represents Apa/Agatu, had earlier told lawmakers that the federal government should disarm the herdsmen as it had disarmed young men of the attacked farming communities. The Ortom administration disarmed most people in Benue state in a 2015 amnesty program, and the governor appealed to villagers to remain law-abiding in the face of attacks by the herdsmen.
In his remarks to the National Assembly, Entonu Adamu urged the government to designate the militant Muslim Fulani herdsmen as a “terrorist group” so that the government could take more decisive action against them.
