‘147 killed in Benue in two months’

The Mzough U Tiv (MUT), an umbrella body of the Tiv nation, worldwide on Thursday said at least 147 people have been killed within the past two months alone in several attacks by bandits on communities in Benue State.

President General of MUT, CP Iorbee Ihagh, who disclosed this in a statement made available to our correspondent in Makurdi, mourned the death of the victims.

Ihagh worried that the unprovoked and unwarranted attacks by armed militia had taken a toll on farming activities and peasant farmers, who are the main producers of food in the state.

He said that the surge in the killings at a time when the nation was battling with food insecurity needed to be tackled with all sincerity.

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He said, “From the data available to us, the state may have lost about 147 persons to herdsmen militia attacks in the last two months. The number of deaths at our disposal are reported cases, but we strongly believe that the number of those killed could be higher, given that there were pockets of deaths across Benue State that may not have been reported.

“For want of space, we may not be able to give you a detailed account of names and communities where these killings occured in the last two months but I believe that these communities are well known to all, especially the media. However, the MUT will give you the number of recorded deaths based on the killings in the three Senatorial Zones of Benue in the last two months.

“During the period under review, the death of 70 persons were recorded in Zone A (Benue North East); a breakdown of the figures show that 20 deaths were purely from attacks by herdsmen, while the remaining 45 killings occured with local militia groups, acting in connivance with herdsmen militia.

“In Zone B (Benue North West), about 10 persons were killed in Gwer West and 17 others in Gwer East, bringing the total to about 27 persons who lost their lives to attacks by the bandits, whereas in Zone C (Benue South), no fewer than 50 persons were killed by these criminal elements,” he stated.

Ihagh called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to end ongoing “the mindless killings” in Benue State, while urging the three state governments of Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba to empower Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) — the military spike operation operating in the three states — to deliver on their mandate.