Gunmen Invade Benue Village, Kill Two

By Babatunde Solanke

Gunmen on Tuesday, around 10pm, attacked Okpokpolo village in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State killing two people.

Locals said several other communities such as Ikpele, Ogbai and Okpokpolo, where the bodies were recovered, came under armed invasion which lasted several hours on Tuesday night.

The villagers also alleged that many houses numbering at least 17 were burnt in the affected communities which at the time of filing this report had become deserted by their occupants who fled to find shelter elsewhere.

A former Commissioner for Information in the state, Mike Inalegwu, who confirmed the development to newsmen in Makurdi, the state capital, said that the armed invaders attacked Okpokpolo village and killed two people while the other villagers also encountered the gunmen’s rage.

But, the State Security Adviser on Internal Affairs, Chief Joseph Har, who also confirmed the attacks, said he was not told that people were killed.

It was gathered that the area had increasingly become vulnerable to armed invasions in the past few days, causing many villagers to desert their homes to nearby border communities of Kogi State, especially after the recent killing of three security personnel.

As at the time of filing this report, the state police spokeswoman, SP Catherine Anene, has yet to confirm the development.