Gunmen strike in Benue, kill 10

Unknown gunmen have reportedly killed at least 10 people in some villages in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.

Confirming the incident, the Chairman of Guma LGA, Caleb Aba, told newsmen in Makurdi on Monday that four of the victims were killed in Mbabai council ward and three others in Ndzorov council.

Aba, who blamed the killings that involved two humanitarian workers on suspected herders, noted that he was baffled by the resurgence of attacks on his people since there were no issues reported earlier between the villagers and the herders.

He said that the remains of the three people killed in Ndzorov which included two aid workers were evacuated by the operatives of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS).

The suspected armed herders had on Sunday allegedly killed six people and two aid workers under the employ of 360HSCD, a non-governmental organisation working on HIV/AIDs testing and counseling in Benue State.

Eyewitnesses noted that the two bodies of the aid workers were later recovered by their organisation from the troops of Operation Whirl Stroke.

According to some villagers, the aid workers were allegedly first seized by the gunmen before they were eventually killed.

They stated that when they called the telephone lines of the abducted aid workers, their captors who responded confirmed the killings and insisted that the killings would continue until Governor Samuel Ortom repealed the open grazing prohibition and ranching establishment law of 2017.