Gunmen kill 11 in fresh attack on Benue communities

Gunmen have killed 11 people in separate attacks on villages in two Local Government Areas of Benue State, police have confirmed.

The attacks happened in Anyom community of Mbatyula council ward in Katsina-Ala council area and Zongo-Akiki village in Mbalagh council ward of Makurdi council area.

A witness said five bodies were recovered from the Zongo-Akiki village attack and already deposited at in a hospital morgue in North bank suburb of Makurdi while another five people are missing.

The witness said the attackers invaded the Zango-Akiki village, situated behind the Army barracks in North bank early hours of Thursday and killed the five deceased, leaving many others wounded.

Similarly, the Chief Press Secretary to the Council Chairman of Katsina Ala LGA, Tertsea Benga, confirmed six persons killed in Anyom community of Mbatyula council ward in Katsina-Ala, bringing the total of those killed in both incidents to 11.

Benga said that the attackers stormed the victims’ farmland, allowed their cattle free access to the villagers’ farm produce, killed and took away some women. The whereabouts of others remain unknown.

He explained that the incident happened between 3pm and 4pm on Wednesday in Anyom, a Kastina-Ala community on the border with Taraba.

“Six people were confirmed dead at the moment while whereabouts of some remained unknown,” the CPS said.

Contacted, the Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO) for Benue command, DSP Catherine Anene, confirmed the killings of five people in the Makurdi incident.

Anene said, “Five persons have been confirmed dead at Northbank where armed men invaded the village and shot them on their way to their farm. Corpses of the victims have been removed to Federal Medical Center Morgue while police teams have moved to the area to prevent further breakdown of law and order.”