Boko Haram kills 20 in Borno, gunmen kill 8 others in Benue

A group of civilian joint task force from Maiduguri stormed the village of Dawashi, Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State, in search of Boko Haram members, after the suspected sect members came and fired sporadic shots that killed over 20 innocent civilians, while a dozen others suffered gunshot injuries.

Lieutenant Haruna Mohammed Sani, the force media coordinator, said the victims, who were mostly fishermen and traders, were still lying within the premises of the task force, receiving medical treatment.

The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) came to the rescue of victims affected by the Saturday attack, by giving them medical treatment in the headquarters field ambulance in Baga.

Haruna said security operatives had already taken charge of the situation, as armed group from MNJTF had been deployed to ensure the safety of lives and property in the area.

Gunmen kill 8 in Benue
There was fresh attack on two villages in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State, where unknown gunmen reportedly killed eight persons.

This came barely two weeks after a peace pact was brokered by governments of Benue and Nasarawa states, urging any aggrieved party between Fulani herdsmen and native farmers in the zone to sheathe their swords.

According to the lawmaker representing Agatu constituency in the state House of Assembly, Sule Audu, gunmen suspected to be herdsmen, numbering about 40, invaded two villages on Sunday with weapons to sack the affected communities.

“They killed eight people, set ablaze houses and sacked the entire Agatu village. And, as I talk to you now, many of my constituent members are taking refuge in my house,” he said.

The lawmaker explained further that the attackers came through the neigbouring village of Ochichi, in Apa Local Government Area of the state, instead of using the normal riverine border of Nasarawa State, as was their act in the past.

“The attack came to us as a surprise because they changed their normal route, which is the riverine border of Nasarawa and entered hrough Ochichi village of Apa.

“I believe they change their position because of the recent peace initiative brokered between the two states to keep watch over their area, in order to avoid strange fellows using their domain as exit and entry route for the purpose of perpetrating evil,” he said.

Corroborating the lawmaker, the immediate past chairman of Agatu Local Government Area, Audu Momoh, confirmed the attack.

Momoh, however, said no life was lost but admitted that houses, including properties, were completely razed.

He described the attack as “unprovoked,” since there was no basis for the suspected herdsmen to have invaded the Idoma speaking vicinity.

But, in a swift reaction, the Benue State secretary of the Myetti-Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACABAN), Garus Gololo, denied the allegation that Fulani herdsmen carried out the attack.
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