A retired Officer of the Nigerian Army has been named among the 16 persons reportedly killed by suspected armed herdsmen in Thursday’s evening attack on Wandor, Mbaikyor community in Mbalom Council Ward of Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State.
The armed invaders also razed over 50 houses, huts, farmlands and food barns across 11 settlements in the attack.
According to a survivor of the attack, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the well-armed invaders, numbering about 40, stormed the community at about 7pm and opened fire on the locals who were taken unaware.
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He said: “They came through Mbasombo into our village.
“There is a Fulani settlement close to the boundary between Ihyravye and Ayar.
“We know the Alhaji who has caused this because we had earlier arrested three of his boys and handed them over to the police at Aliade.
“It was documented.
“But the boys were later released.
“It is Alhaji that is operating on this axis.
“In fact, a retired military officer who was following up on the case, MWO Mbatsavbun Gbatar (retd.), who is the community security adviser, who reported the case, was among those killed.
“They took us by surprise.
“They came numbering over 40 at about 7pm; some had guns and others had cutlasses.
“And the operation lasted for over three hours.
“As I’m talking to you now, over 50 houses have been burnt.
“Immediately they came and started shooting, I put a call through to someone and asked him to tell the Divisional Police Officer what was happening.
“If we had immediate interventions, they probably wouldn’t have set the houses ablaze.
“One of the victims was burnt alive in a house; we had to wrap him up and take him out of his house.”
According to the eyewitness and survivor, among the communities razed by the marauders were Tse-Agernor, Tse-Najime, Tse-Wandor, Wandor Market Square, Tse-Ate, Tse-Anyol, Tse-Abagi, Tse-Ifian, Tse-Ukombor, Tse-Girgi Akwaya, Tse-Tion Ukpa, and Tse-Abuur.
Confirming the development, the Caretaker Chairpersons of Gwer East LGA, Comfort Agbo, said: “At the moment, there is relative peace in the Wandor community.
“Sixteen bodies have so far been recovered.
“Two were injured and are receiving treatment.
“Those who attacked and killed my people are suspected armed herdsmen.
“The security operatives are currently moving the bodies to the mortuary.”
Reacting, the sociocultural group of the people of the area, Masev Development Association, in a statement by its President General, Prof. Vearumun Tarhule, made available to newsmen in Makurdi by the Media Adviser of the MDA, Dr. David Mtswenem, expressed shock at the brutal murder of the innocent people of the area and the razing of the ancestral homes of the people.
The group expressed bewilderment at the continuous vulnerability of innocent citizens to attacks by bandits and fervently prayed for divine mercy and assistance in every aspect of this devastating situation.
The statement partly read: “Prof. Tarhule highlighted the repeated calls to the government authorities for the protection of people’s lives and properties, which have sadly gone unheeded.
“Further lamenting the systematic targeting of ethnic nationalities and the decimation of Nigerians, especially the Tiv people, over the past two decades, Prof. Tarhule called upon the federal, state, and local government authorities to fulfil their statutory and constitutional responsibilities by safeguarding lives and properties at all times and in all places.
“As the sociocultural leader of the Masev people worldwide, Prof. Tarhule appealed to the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, local government authorities, corporate organisations, and well-meaning individuals to provide any form of assistance to the devastated, traumatised, and Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, in Wandor, Mbaikyor.
“He expressed hope for adequate security mobilisation and urged for the apprehension of the perpetrators to face the full force of the law.
“It is noteworthy that this is the third attack by Fulani herdsmen militia in the Mbalom community of Gwer East LGA. Similar attacks occurred in 2014 at Agana, Mbatsada, and on April 24, 2018, when Rev. Fr. Joseph Gor, Fr. Felix Tyolaha, and seventeen parishioners were killed during morning Mass at St. Ignatius Quasi Parish Ayar-Mbalom in Ubuluku Kindred.
“The recent attack at Wandor, Mbaikyor, raises the pressing question: when will this end? How can our people sleep with their eyes closed? With the farming season approaching, how will our people return to their farms when their properties are destroyed and they are displaced? These are the urgent concerns that demand immediate attention and action.”
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