Suspected Fulani herdsmen storm Benue community, kill one, take two nursing mothers and their babies hostage (graphic photos)

Suspected armed herdsmen reportedly stormed Div-Nzaav community, Turan in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue state, killing one man identified as Simon Tarfa. The armed men also attacked a woman with machetes and took two nursing mothers and their babies hostage.

It was gathered that the armed herders stormed the community shooting sporadically as the villagers scampered for safety.

“They came in their numbers on Friday evening shooting sporadically and chasing away our people from their ancestral homes. They killed the first person they caught and inflicted machete cut on a woman they met frying garri and also took two other women and their babies hostage,” A source told Daily Trust.

Senior Special Assistant to the Benue state Governor on New Media, who is from the besieged community, Mr Msugter Amande, who confirmed the incident, said he received a distress call from his brother informing him of the attack.

“My brother called lamenting that armed men had overrun our village again leaving several casualties behind. He narrated that armed herders in their numbers came in on Friday and that the first compound they entered, they met one Simon Tarfa and a woman frying garri. He said they killed the young man and macheted the woman and also took away two women with their little children while shooting sporadically,” Amande said.

“They were said to have thoroughly beaten up the abducted women and released them and their female babies much later after telling them that they were no more interested in killing women. As we speak they have taken over my village and are now grazing freely and looting the farm produce of our people while our people have all deserted their ancestral homes. The displaced people, who are in dire need of help, are now sleeping in the open where they are taking refuge in market stalls at Jato-aka main market.” he added.

While appealing to security agencies to stop the herders from permanently taking over his community, Mr Amande said the remains of the dead and the injured were taken to a public hospital in Jato-Aka after the Police in Adikpo and Jato Aka were informed of the development.