• Angry residents raze houses in herding community

Gunmen have attacked the village of the Bishop of Makurdi Catholic diocese, Wilfred Anagbe. The attack came hours after he issued a statement seeking prayers for Rev. Fr. Solomon Atongu, who was shot by bandits on Sunday while on his way to Naka, Gwer West council area of Benue State.

Also, a reverend father, Mimang Lekyil, in the Kwakas community, Mushere District of Bokkos Local Council of Plateau State has been reportedly killed.

In the Benue incident, residents say the suspected herdsmen came in numbers on motorcycles with pump action rifles from the Idoma-Ogobia-Vengav-Aondoana axis of the road.

Several people were already killed before the arrival of a mobile police unit from Naka. They reportedly retrieved two bodies and returned back to Naka.

A man, whose throat was slit by the assailants, was seen battling to stay alive. He was discovered a few minutes after the policemen had gone.
The whereabouts of the priest of St. Peter’s Parish Aondoana, Rev. Shima and Claretian sisters, some parishioners, among other people were yet to be accounted for.

A 50-year-old man, Mson Nyajo, was also confirmed dead, and an additional three corpses were seen close to a phone charging outlet within the Aondoana market square.

According to residents, Lekyil’s home was attacked around 9:00 pm on Sunday when his family members were about to sleep. A resident of Bokkos, Bishop Ayuba Matawa, who also confirmed the incident, narrated that two women were earlier kidnapped, but later rescued by vigilantes and youths in the area.

“Yes, they shot the reverend father. The two women in the house were kidnapped but were later rescued by residents of the area, who mobilised to trail the assailants. It is believed that they came to kidnap the reverend since they went with the women,” he said. Matawa added that the body of the late 70-year-old cleric had been deposited at Luna Mortuary in Bokkos.

Meanwhile, houses belonging to the herding community in the area have been burnt down by angry residents in Dingak Village, a Fulani settlement in Mushere Central.

A Fulani youth leader in Bokkos, Saeed Adamu, said many houses belonging to their members were burnt following the killing of the reverend father.

While condemning the murder of the religious leader, Adamu called on security forces to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.