Suspected herdsmen kill farmer in Benue community

Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen have killed a farmer, Iornongu Mwuaga, at Tombo Ward of Tse-Orbaki village in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State.

Three other persons were declared missing.

The chairman of the local government, Richard Nyajo, accused herdsmen of launching the attack.

He said the herdsmen were freely grazing on farmlands and destroying crops.

A brother to the deceased, Mr Terkula Mbanyi, who is also a former deputy chairman of the local government, told reporters that herdsmen with rifles and cattle surrounded their farmlands while they were working.

Mbanyi, a worker at Benue State Scholarship Board in Makurdi, said: “The armed herdsmen shot at those working on the farm. In the ensuing melee, one person was killed and two others got missing.”

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The traditional ruler of Tombo Ward, Chief Enoch Ikyumen, told The Nation on phone that the body of farmer had been deposited at Ayilamo town hospital and the matter reported to the local government chairman.

There has been an increase in herdsmen attacks on farmers in Tse-Dzungwe, Anawah and Tse Ibor villages, following the return of armed herders with cattle.

The herdsmen were said to have grazed on unharvested farmlands and destroyed crops unchallenged.

Police spokesman Moses Yamu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said he had not received the report last night.

Governor Samuel Ortom kick-started his re-election campaign in Logo local Government area on the day herdsmen launched attacks on the community’s residents.