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Again, suspected armed herders have launched attack on Agbo Vengav Udam community in Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State, killing at least seven people.
According to residents of the area, the attackers laid siege on the community around 7pm on Thursday during which they opened fire sporadically on the inhabitants.
One of the residents who spoke to our Saturday PUNCH via telephone chat on Friday said the attackers passed through a border village in Otukpo Local Government Area to launch the attack.
“They passed through the border village of Otukpo and entering into Agbo, they shot their guns sporadically, killing the seven people on the spot. They took away three people with them,” a resident of the affected community, who did not want to mention his name, said.
It was gathered that an infant was among those killed and that the mother was abducted by the assailants.
The witness added that five of the bodies have been deposited in a morgue in Naka, while the families of the remaining two deceased opted to bury their dead without delay.
The incident, according to residents, has caused them to desert their homes for fear of further attacks.
Chairman of Gwer West Local Government Area, Victor Ormin, confirmed the incident to our correspondent on the phone on Friday.
Omin, who lamented that the killing was coming after commercial vehicles were hijacked and passengers taken away, decried the activities of suspected armed herders in the local government.
The council boss said, “It’s true that scores of people were killed at Vengav Udam village within the local government Thursday night.
“Two people who are critically injured during the attack are receiving treatment in Naka hospital and the situation is becoming unbearable considering the way these armed herders are wreaking havoc in the local government area and the state as whole.
However, calls and messages put through to the Police Public Relations Officer for state Police Command, Catherine Anene, were not answered.
Recall that some gunmen intercepted two commercial vehicles about three kilometers to Naka, headquarters of Gwer West Local Government Area on Thursday and abducted 14 passengers.
