Less than five days after fulani herdsmen allegedly killed 50 people in Kogi State, another 10, including a traditional ruler, Onu Okemu of Agbenema, Musa Edigbo, and his wife, were killed yesterday afternoon.
Witnesses in the community, a former majority leader of Kogi State House of Assembly, Adamu Mohammed as well the state Police Command confirmed the Monday attack.
Some community members said several houses were razed by the herdsmen in the latest attacks in four communities–Agbenema, Aj’Ichekpa, Opada and Iyade all in Omala Local Government Area of the state.
The traditional ruler was killed alongside his wife when the herdsmen stormed his palace and burnt down the palace.
Among the houses burnt were that of a former chairman of the local government and the house of his father while the current council chairman, Ibrahim Aboh, reportedly narrowly escaped being killed.
The attackers were said to be armed with sophisticated weapons and reportedly hid in the bushes around the villages from where they launched deadly attacks on their targets.
The herdsmen, whose mode of operation is to set the houses ablaze and open fire on fleeing inhabitants, slit their throats, matcheted them and cut off vital parts of their victims.
“The herdsmen have taken over our ancestral homes. They have razed down OjuwoAjomayeigbi, Iyade, Agbenema and Opada villages.
“We want the world to come to our assistance before these herdsmen exterminate and inherit our land.We have no confidence in the security agencies posted to us.
“Right now, cordinated war is raging simultaneously in most villages in Omala, Dekina, and Bassa councils.
“Our people are being killed and houses burnt down, even as our women are being raped while many children who ran from the theatre of war are still missing,” a community member, who declined to be named, said.
When contacted for his reaction, the Police/Public Relations Officer, Willy Aya, confirmed the story but promised he would call back to give specific figures of casualties.
He did not.
Mohammed, the former lawmaker called on the Federal Government to immediately intervene in the killings in the state.
-Sun
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