Benue residents say ‘herdsmen still here… even policemen fled when they saw them’

On the first day of 2018 when many were celebrating, suspected herdsmen invaded communities in Logo and Guma local government areas of Benue, and not even children were spared.

Although it’s been two weeks since the incident took place, locals say both LGAs are still being occupied by the perpetrators of the deadly attacks.

“The herdsmen are still there, and we can’t just return,” Fafa, one of the farmers displaced from a village in Guma, told TheCable.

Fafa and his family had made a run for their lives the moment they heard of the attacks on a nearby village.

“We were running and hoping we see security operatives to help us return because we know these herders will loot our storehouse, but nobody was there to provide security for us,” he said.

‘Policemen left us and ran away’

At a primary school in Daudu, a village in Guma where Fafa and hundreds of displaced persons are being camped, the people are increasingly worried over the security situation.

Elisha, a displaced farmer, told TheCable that “policemen ran away” upon sighting herdsmen.

“Once, the policemen came and told us to follow them so that we can get foodstuff from our storehouse, but when they saw the herdsmen, they left us and ran away,” he said.

Several other displaced persons expressed fear of returning home, citing the lack of security operatives on ground to protect them from possible attacks.

When contacted, Moses Yamu, Benue state police public relations officer, said adequate security had been provided in the affected areas.

“I don’t know how people will say there is no police presence in Logo and Guma,” he told TheCable.

“But, can police secure every house in the place? You don’t expect police to escort you or to go and stand in your house before you will go and stay in your house.

“If policeman will be planted in every house, do you think police will go round? Security has been fortified along that axis and we have not recorded any case of attack for the  past three or four days now. And that is to tell you that the presence of the security is everywhere.”

A recap of the crisis

The national outrage over the Benue killings prompted President Muhammadu Buhari to order Idris Kpotum, the inspector general of police, to relocate to the state.

A mass burial ceremony was on Thursday held at the IBB Square in Makurdi for those killed in the attack.

Samuel Ortom, Benue state governor, has vowed to bring the killers to justice. Over the weekend, Ortom disclosed that he alerted the president about the attack but was ignored.

Barely three days after the mass burial, a fight broke out in Wadata area of Makurdi between youth believed to be of Tiv extraction and the Hausa community.

Cars and shops had been vandalised and a few people had sustained injuries before security operatives arrived.