Indications have emerged emerged about how violence erupted in Anwule village in Ohimini Local Government Area of Benue State, after a Fulani herder was murdered by some suspected locals late August.
The herders recently launched a counter-attack on the villagers, killing three villagers with one still missing.
Some villagers, according to sources, attacked heads of cattle, killing a young boy herding one of the heads. The sources claim that the boy’s body has yet to be recovered.
The sources added:”While tension was still high between the villagers who felt that the herders strayed into their farms, and the herders who were still searching for the corpse of the missing shepherd, some villagers attacked another group of herders on Monday morning, killing several cattle and a herder.
“By Tuesday, the herders regrouped and launched a counter-attack on the villagers. The Army Forward Operating Base in Otukpo was alerted. However, before the soldiers arrived, the suspected herders had killed three locals identified as Simon Nbach, Adoya Ejigai, and Ejeh Loko.
The troops helped to recover the remains of Nbachi, who was said to be the pastor of Flaming Fire Ministry in the village alongside others.
The source who described the killing of the pastor as “mere coincidence and pure collateral damage”, saying there was no way his assailants could have known his identity.
He disclosed that the Special Adviser on Security to the State Governor, Father Hyacint Alia, Hon. Joseph Har and the council chairman, Hon. Gabriel Adole, have visited the affected community.
