Death toll in the attacks on Agwabi Village in Biney Council Ward of Buruku Local Government Area of the Benue State by terrorist Fulani herdsmen presently stands at 60, according to villagers.
This is coming a few months after over 400 people were killed in Agatu Local Government Council of the State.
Pained by the mass murders of his people by Fulani herdsmen, Governor.Samuel Ortom has described the killings as “genocide” and ordered the cattle rearers out of the state saying the state was under siege.
“It is a bad situation now, everyday you hear my people are being killed, raped by these mercenaries, they do not have respect for rule of law neither for security personnel.
“These are wicked mercenaries under the guise of herdsmen attacking us and taking over our farmland. I have said it several times that we do not have land for grazing in the state, let them move out of the state.
“There is a limit to which I can appeal to my people to restrain, from reprisal attack, if all of them are killed, then I will be the next target. The problem is that if you push them away from one point, they move to another point and their style is to kill, destroy farmland and take over the land,” he lamented.
Reacting to allegations that youths of the town were rustling cattle, he demanded the proof of cattle rustling and wondered whether cattle now equates a human life.
“It is the criminal elements among them that always go and steal their cows. For instance, in my village, they claimed that my people rustled their cows and they went ahead to kill 50 of my people and took over the land, this is genocide”, the governor cried out.
He also indicted security agencies whom he accused of not arresting the culprits even when they remain where they had operated noting that “in Buruku, there were military men and mobile policemen stationed there.”
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