BLOOD FLOWS AGAIN: 80 killed as Fulani herdsmen invade Benue village

No fewer than 80 persons were feared killed in a renewed invasion of suspected armed Fulani herdsmen on Egba village in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State yester­day.
A villager, who escaped from the community, told newsmen that suspected Fu­lani, attacked the village at about 5am yesterday.
While the escaped villager said about 80 corpses had been found, the deputy gover­norship candidate of the Peo­ples Democratic Party (PDP), John Ngbede, who hails from the area, confirmed that 60 persons were killed, but add­ed that search was still ongo­ing to recover more corpses.
When contacted, Commis­sioner of Police in the state, Hycinth Dagala, who con­firmed the incident, said his men, who had just arrived at the scene of the crisis, told him they had recovered 30 dead bodies and were still searching for more at the time of filing this report.
Dagala said he would rely more on the report of his men despite claims by locals that 80 dead bodies had been re­covered.
About nine local govern­ment areas of Benue State came under attack of Fulani herdsmen last year with hun­dreds of persons killed while thousands were displaced.
But just while the farmers were returning to their villag­es to commence farming ac­tivities last year after a peace pact instituted by Governor Gabriel Suswam, two local government areas of Agatu and Logo had again come under attack by the herds­men this year, a development which had posed concern to the Benue people.