At least 10 people, among them a traditional ruler, Onu Okemu Agbenema, Musa Edibo, were killed yesterday while several houses were razed by suspected herdsmen during attacks on Agbenema, Aj’Ichekpa, Opada and Iyade villages in Omala Local Government Area of Kogi State. The attackers, who were said to be armed with sophisticated weapons, hid in the bush around the villages from where they launched attacks on their targets. When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), William Aya, said he was going to find out and get back to journalists.
A former member of the state House of Assembly, who represented Omala Constituency, Mr. Adamu Muhammed (a lawyer), said the attackers were Fulani herdsmen. He pleaded with the state government and security agencies to step in and avert further killings in the area.
Muhammed said more bodies were still being recovered by the people at press time. Another source said the herdsmen, who set houses ablaze and opened fire on the fleeing inhabitants, also slit the throats of some of their victims while they used machetes to cut off vital parts of others. It was learnt that the Administrator of Omala Local Government Area, Hon. Ibrahim Aboh, escaped the attackers’ guns by a whisker, while the assailants set two houses belonging to a former local government chairman, Stephen Adofu, and his father ablaze.
It was learnt that soldiers drafted to curtail the herdsmen’s killings allegedly refused to assist the locals to repel the invaders. “We were surprised when we approached the soldiers who were stationed at the Guest House at Abejukolo for assistance and they refused to act professionally.
They used their vehicles to block us from advancing to the troubled spot to help our people. “It is clear that the aim of the Fulani herdsmen is to kill us and take over our ancestral homes. They have razed down Ojuwo Ajomayeigbi, Iyade, Agbenema and Opada villages so that they could use our land for their cattle colonies.
“We want the world to come to our assistance before these Fulani exterminate us and inherit our land. We have lost confidence in the security agencies posted to us. From their actions, we believed they have been instructed to adopt ‘siddon look’ while we are being massacred. “Right now a coordinated war is raging simultaneously in most villages in Omala, Dekina, and Bassa local government areas. 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.
“Since the attacks begun, we cannot go to the farms while markets have been closed. Hunger has come to stay on our soil. If drastic measures are not taken to quell these mad killings by these herdsmen, food insecurity will take over our land,” a resident said. On Saturday, Governor Yahaya Bello visited the crisis prone area of Oganenigu where several lives were lost, while houses were burnt. Over 45 motorbikes and food were carted away the invading Fulani herders, with a promise to take the attack across the state.
