The herdsmen’s reign of terror continued at the weekend with attacks in Adamawa and Niger States, causing the death of three riot policemen and two other missing A man was killed in Niger State, many were injured
In Delta, no fewer five people have been found dead in some communities, believed to have been killed after the herdsmen’s attack.
The police Adamwa in Adamawa State yesterday confirmed the killing of three riot policemen and the disappearance of two others in an attack by suspected herdsmen in Demsa Local Government Area.
The policemen were among those drafted to secure Kwayine, Gidan Dadi and Karlahi communities after clashes that followed the killing of 47 cattle in the area.
Spokesman of Adamawa police, Mr. Othman Abubakar, said four rifles belonging to the policemen were also missing.
“Fulani militia attacked the three villages and we lost three of our gallant MOPOL while two are missing.
“We have constituted a high-powered search team and by the special grace of God, we are going to recover our men.
“On the side of the civilians, two bodies have so far been recovered,” Othman said.
The spokesman said the police had succeeded in killing scores of the militias who however escaped with their dead ones.
Abubakar said more policemen had been drafted to the affected areas.
In Niger State, one person was killed and 15 others were injured – some seriously – in a midnight attack by cattle rustlers in Angwar Umadi Village in Shiroro local government area.
The attack came barely 24 hours after the state government had assured the people of Shiroro and Rafi local government areas of its readiness to tackle the upsurge in cases of kidnapping and cattle rustling.
The deceased identified as a 19 year old senior secondary school (SSS11) pupil, was shot at close range by the armed rustlers.
A source said the boy came out to ease himself, unknown to him that the bandits were operating at about midnight.
The cattle rustlers who were about 40 were said to have operated for about an hour shooting and stabbing villagers who tried to escape.
One of the villagers, Isaiah Baga said that 212 cattle and a number of sheep were taken away. Seven new motorcycles were also taken away.
He said security agents were yet to come to the village after the villagers had reported the incident to them, “we have reported the latest attack to the authority but we are are yet to hear from them”.
This attack is said to be the 20th attack on communities in Shiroro Local Government in recent months, leaving over 100 people killed and over 1,500 cattle and sheep stolen.
No fewer than five farmers were feared killed in Abraka and Obiaruku communities, in Ethiope East and Ukwuani council areas in Delta State, during clashes between farmers and suspected herdsmen.
It was learnt that farmers in the communities had been in a long-drawn faceoff with the herdsmen over incessant destruction of the farms by grazing cattle.
According to community sources, tension increased during the week following the clashes, which had claimed lives of four men and one woman.
According to sources, the victims in the Abraka incident included two cousins; Akpovona Felix and Sunday Akpupu, who were indigenes of Eku community, but residents of Abraka. Two of them were killed in their farms.
Akpovona and Sunday’s bodies were discovered on their farm on Wednesday after they had gone for clearing on Tuesday and failed to return home. Their bodies were recovered by community scavengers on in a bush said to be prone to herdsmen attacks.
Akpovona, a father of five, was said to have been shot while his cousin was hacked to death and his finger cut off.
The second incident happened in a farm around a forest reserve on the Abraka-Benin Road, a boundary area between Urhoka-Abraka and Obiaruku, claiming the lives of two men and a woman. The victims were indigenes of Obiaruku community.
“They went to the farm last Tuesday; when they did not return, the next day, a search party was sent to look for them only to discover their bodies at separate locations by a river bank near their farm”, Progress Aganbi, who lives in the community, said.
Police spokesman in Delta State, Andrew Aniamaka, said “I could only confirm that of Abraka, where two persons were killed. It was first reported as a case of a missing person. On the third, one Akpovena Godwin reported about his brother. They are from Eku community.
“We found the deceased and that of Sunday Akpokpo. Akpokpo was 40 years while Felix Akpovena was 39 years. It was a case of murder. There’s the suspicion that it might have been a reprisal attack. We are still not giving up,” he said.
