Gunmen Killed 100 In Recent Attack On Benue Villages —Local Council Chairman

At least, 100 people were killed in four council wards of Kastina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State at the weekend after gunmen unleashed terror on communities.

A spokesman for the Kastina-Ala council chairman, Tertsea Benga, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

Benga said over 100 dead bodies had been recovered from many villages in the four council wards.

He alleged that the gunmen stormed the communities on Saturday and burnt down houses.

Benga listed the initially affected villages to include Vingir, Tse Nyipila and Tse Guji all in Mbayongo ward, adding that the attackers proceeded to Kenvanger in Mbatyula council ward on Sunday afternoon.

Most of the corpses were recovered from the bush.

Benga further recalled that half of the communities in one of the affected localities, Yooyo council ward in the same Katsina Ala LGA, had earlier been sacked by the alleged armed invaders who killed many people then and in the latest invasion.

The Chairman of Kastina-Ala LGA, Alfred Atera, said over 100 people were killed during the weekend in the four council wards of Mbayongo, Yooyo, Utange and Mbatyula/Mberev in a coordinated attack.

Atera blamed the attack on the collaboration between suspected armed herders and ‘Gana boys’ (loyalists of the slain Benue criminal kingpin, Terwase Akwaza, popularly known as ‘Gana’), adding that security personnel, though doing their best, were however overwhelmed.