Seven family members have been killed following an invasion of a Benue community by suspected herdsmen.
The gunmen were said to have attacked the Mbamondu community at the outskirts of Makurdi, the Benue State capital in the early hours of Saturday.
Mbamondu is in the Modern Market Council Ward of Makurdi Local Government Area of the state.
It was gathered that the attackers also inflicted various degrees of injuries on five others with three in critical condition being treated at a medical facility in Makurdi.
A survivor who narrated how the attackers invaded the community to the State Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Solid Minerals, Mr Bernard Unenge, described the attack as unprovoked.
On his part, the Commissioner said he had to call on the security operatives that were stationed around the Adaka community, also on the outskirts of the state capital who responded swiftly.
However, before the military agencies got to the scene of the incident, the assailants had already fled after accomplishing their mission.
Unenge told journalists that seven dead bodies were recovered and deposited at the Federal Medical Centre Makurdi while five persons were also injured with three in very critical condition.
He described the incident as heart wrenching and tragic as it happened unprovoked, pointing out that his people were shot and butchered like animals.
