Gunmen kill 2 in Benue village

Gunmen have reportedly killed two people in a fresh attack on Okpokpolo village in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State.

Our correspondent reports that the area had increasingly become vulnerable to armed invasions in the past few days, causing many villagers to desert their homes to nearby border communities of Kogi State, especially after the recent killing of three security personnel.

Locals told our correspondent on Wednesday that the latest attack, which claimed the lives of two villagers, happened at 10pm on Tuesday.

They said several other communities such as Ikpele, Ogbai and Okpokpolo, where the bodies were recovered, came under armed invasion which lasted several hours on Tuesday night.

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The villagers also alleged that many houses numbering at least 17 were burnt in the affected communities which at the time of filing this report had become deserted by their occupants who fled to find shelter elsewhere.

Mike Inalegwu, a former Commissioner for Information in the state confirmed to journalists in Makurdi that the armed invaders attacked Okpokpolo village and killed two people while the other villagers also encountered the gunmen’s rage.

But, the State Security Adviser on Internal Affairs, Chief Joseph Har, who also confirmed the attacks, said he was not told that people were killed.

The police spokeswoman for Benue Command, SP Catherine Anene, however, told our correspondent on the phone that she did not have any such information.