Rampaging herdsmen have again attacked a community in Benue State, leaving about 11 persons dead.
Governor Hyacinth Alia of the State had cried out that herders were intending to chase out natives and occupy their territories.
The latest attack occurred in Afia community, Ukum Local Government Area, barely a week after suspected armed herders massacred over 50 farmers in other parts of Benue.
The Ter Ukum, His Royal Highness, Chief Iyorkyaa Kaave, made the disclosure in Makurdi while addressing a security meeting convened to assess the spate of violence in the area.
Describing the attack as unprovoked and part of a calculated agenda to displace indigenous farmers, the monarch condemned the continued loss of lives and property in his domain.
“As I speak to you, these attacks began on Thursday in Logo and by Good Friday had spread to several communities in Ukum. We are still counting the dead, recovering more corpses and many of our people remain missing,” DAILY POST quoted the monarch as lamenting.
According to him, Tuesday’s attack on Afia was particularly brutal, as the armed assailants stormed the community at dawn, firing sporadically at residents and leaving eleven dead on the spot, while several others sustained varying degrees of injuries.
“These people are different from the Fulani we knew and lived peacefully with in the 1970s and 1980s.
"Back then, they would come during the dry season with their families and cattle.
"But what we are witnessing now are armed men with AK-47s, attacking our people in their sleep, and returning to occupy their homes,” the monarch lamented, and urged President Bola Tinubu to take decisive action.