Less than a week after over 50 farmers were reportedly killed in Benue State, fresh violence erupted in the early hours of Tuesday as suspected armed herdsmen attacked Afia community in Ukum Local Government Area, killing 11 residents and injuring several others.
The traditional ruler of Ukum, His Royal Highness Chief Iyorkyaa Kaave, made the disclosure during a security meeting held in Makurdi to address the worsening insecurity in the area.
Describing the attack as “unprovoked” and part of a “calculated attempt to displace indigenous farmers,” Chief Kaave decried the relentless loss of lives and destruction of property in his domain.
“These attacks started last Thursday in Logo and by Good Friday had spread to several communities in Ukum,” he said. “We are still counting the dead. More bodies are being recovered, and many of our people are still missing.”
According to him, the assault on Afia was particularly brutal. The assailants reportedly stormed the community at dawn, opened fire indiscriminately, and left 11 people dead on the spot, while others sustained varying degrees of injuries.
Chief Kaave expressed concern that the attacks appear to be part of a larger plot to forcefully take over ancestral lands.
“These are not the Fulani we lived peacefully with in the past,” he said. “In the 1970s and 80s, they came with their families and cattle during the dry season. What we see now are armed men with AK-47s, invading homes at night and seizing our communities.”
He called on President Bola Tinubu to take urgent and decisive action, warning against any move to negotiate with the attackers.
“We do not want to settle with murderers,” the monarch said. “Their agenda is no longer hidden — it is to kill, displace, and occupy.”
