2 killed in fresh attack on community

• Aerial survey for land mass capturing begins

Two persons have been reportedly killed in a fresh attack on Igama, a community in Ojugo Ward in Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State.

Witnesses said that several houses were also burnt by the assailants after killing a man and woman.

The chairman of Okpokwu LGA, Amina Audu, told newsmen in Makurdi yesterday that the residents suspected herders were behind the attack.

“We reported to the police, they came and the Livestock Volunteer Guards also came around but the attackers quickly ran away before they arrived. The incident started since Tuesday. They have attacked the community for three consecutive days.

“They will just come into the community and attack them. They normally come in the afternoon to attack. It is because the security people have been stationed on ground that we did not record many casualties.

“The woman was buried immediately her body was found because she was already decaying by the time she was found. We reported to the police and they granted permission for her to be buried,” he said.

Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, SP Catherine Anene, said she was not aware of the incident but would wait for the report from the area.

Meanwhile, an aerial survey to capture the entire land mass of 23 local government areas in the state started yesterday.

Governor Samuel Ortom who inspected the take-off exercise by the surveillance aircraft at the Makurdi Airport and the Benue Geographic Information Service (BENGIS), stressed the need to computerise the land mass of the state.

 “What we did at the airport was to inspect the process of air survey of the entire Benue State. We are targeting all the local government headquarters in the state. And then some mini urban areas so that they would be captured in our system,” he said.

“Our intention is to also fast track this and to try to qualify it for the World Bank grant which is estimated at $5million. We have paid more than half of the money that is required for the project which is a total sum of N6billion and we have paid more than N3billion,” he said.