Suspected Fulani herdsmen in the early hours of Sunday invaded Governor Samuel Ortom’s village, Tse-Apera in Nzorov, in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State and killed five persons.
According to a native, who simply identified himself as Tseagba, several people were also injured during the invasion of the governor’s village at about 5am.
Tseagba said, “The herdsmen were speaking Fulfude language and when they came, they knocked on the doors of people; as people came out to see who was knocking, they attacked them.
“It was the cry of people that woke me up, and this made me to flee and hide in the bush until daybreak when we saw five dead people, one of them beheaded.
The Chairman of the Guma Local Government, Caleb Aba, confirmed that three persons were killed by the suspected herdsmen, with one of them beheaded.
Aba said, “For the people who had not woken up, they knocked at their doors; when they woke up, they were shot. On the spot, they killed two; one of them was beheaded and eight others injured.
“Those wounded were taken to Teaching Hospital and two to General Hospital in Gbamjimba, but one of the injured, who was taken to the Teaching Hospital, died yesterday (Monday) morning.”
When asked how he knew that the attackers were Fulani, the chairman said when they came; they were talking in their language, “but no house was burnt”
The state police command confirmed the attack on the village and said two people were killed.
The spokesperson for the command, DSP Catherine Anene, said, “We recorded attack on Sunday; two persons died and five injured. I’m not aware of the beheading of anyone.”