Benue: Gunmen Burn Pregnant Woman, Butcher Son, Shoot Others

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Benue: Gunmen Burn Pregnant Woman, Butcher Son, Shoot Others

— March 19, 2014

Barely 24 hours after suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked Tulen and Agasha communities in Guma local government area of Benue State, gunmen yesterday burnt to death a pregnant woman, butchered her son, and killed  several farmers in a Makurdi neighbourhood.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the pregnant woman and her deceased son had gone to farm at Iwenge village, near Welfare quarters located along Makurdi- Otukpo road of the state capital. They were working in the farm at about 10am when the gunmen killed them.
Yesterday, pandemonium broke out at Kanshio village when the youths of the affected area conveyed the corpses of the deceased farmers to the palace of the Ter Makurdi, Chief Sule Abenga, and insisted an end to the lingering crisis.
But Chief Sule Abenga told newsmen yesterday that the attack was mischievous and that the action of the youths to have moved corpses to his house was also deliberate because of the allegation that traditional rulers were accused to have hand in the crisis.
The youths barricaded the highway, resulting to traffic congestion which lasted for several hours.
Sources at the Ter Makurdi residence said when the gunmen invaded the farm of the deceased woman and her son, some passers-by quickly rushed to the place to render help but they were overwhelmed by the invaders.
Police Public Relations Officer, SP Daniel Ezeala, confirmed the incident and said the dead bodies had been moved to the mortuary while investigation is ongoing,
Meanwhile, there was serious disagreement between soldiers and youths at Tse-Kucha where the Gboko plant of Dangote Cement is situated. Four persons were reportedly shot and killed and scores injured in the violence that ensued. Tse-Kucha is located on Gboko-Makurdi highway.
It was gathered that one of the workers at the cement factory had stolen a spare tyre and was caught by the soldiers who allegedly shot and killed him instantly. Another version said a young man was in the bush to empty his bowel when he was shot by a soldier who mistook him for a Fulani herdsman.
This resulted in the crisis leading to the barricade of the Gboko-Makurdi expressway by irate youths.