Barely five days after the gruesome kìllíng of over 50 farmers in Ukum and Logo local government areas of Benue State, fresh attack on Afia Community in the same Ukum by suspected armed herders in the early hours of Tuesday has left eleven (11) indigenes dead.
The Daily Crucible reports that suspected armed herders on motorcycles launched deadly assaults on communities in the Ukum and LGAs early Friday, April 18, 2025, shooting indiscriminately and killing at least 56 people.
The Benue state governor, Hyacinth Iormem Alia, who visited the affected communities the following day, Saturday, did express deep sorrow over the coordinated attacks and the attendant havoc, describing the killings as a “serious carnage.”
However, disclosing the latest attack on Tuesday in Makurdi during a security meeting, the Ter Ukum, His Royal Highness Iyorkyaa Kaave lamented the loss of lives and siege of fear on the community following the unprovoked attacks by the marauding herdsmen.
The traditional ruler claimed that the attackers game plan was to evict the farmers from their ancestral land and return afterwards to occupy same.
Describing the invaders as people with hidden agenda to kill, conquer and occupy, the monarch urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to get it clear that he and his people won’t settle or cohabit with murderers, calling on him to address the Incessant threats to their lives.
He said, “As I speak with you, these attacks started on Thursday in Logo and spread to communities in Ukum on good Friday. We are still counting losses and more corpses are being recovered and some people are still missing.
“Today which is Tuesday 22nd day of April, the herders invaded Afia in the early hour of today, shooting sporadically at anyone in sight, killing eleven people on the spot, while several others sustained varying degree of injuries with scores still missing.
“We want the President to know that these Fulani people are different from the ones we settled with in the 70s and 80s. Those ones do come in the dry season with their wives children and cattle to stay with us; but in recent times, these Fulanis are coming with cattle and AK-47 only to attack our people in their sleep and flee, after a while come back and occupy their homes.
“The president should get this clear, we don’t want to settle with murderers. These people are coming with a hidden agenda to kill and occupy, which they are no longer hiding.”
