Three people have been killed and two others abducted following an attack by armed men on mourners returning from a burial in Sati-Ikov Council Ward, located in Ushongo Local Government Area of Benue State.
Residents who spoke on Sunday said the attack occurred on Saturday night close to the community, when the victims were making their way home from the burial ceremony.
According to one local source, who declined to be identified for security reasons, the assailants were suspected to be members of local militias operating in the area.
“Some mourners who were returning from a burial were attacked close to our community, Sati-Ikov, on Saturday night by local militias.
“Three of them were killed, and two others, a male and a female, were kidnapped.”
The lawmaker representing Ushongo Constituency in the Benue State House of Assembly, Simon Gabo, confirmed the incident and condemned the rising wave of violence in the community.
He revealed that the area has experienced repeated attacks over the past two weeks, resulting in multiple fatalities.
According to him, the victims of the latest incident have been identified as Bem Msughter from Mbakyombo, Daav-Ikov; Aondo Chia from Mbamegh, Daa-Ikov; and Sunday Terwase of Mbakyor, Daav-Ikov.
Gabo also disclosed that two individuals, Aondongu Amos, a POS operator in Sati-Ikov, and Mrs Arinze, a patent medicine trader were abducted during the attack.
Providing further details, the lawmaker said he received a distress call in the early hours of Sunday reporting the incident.
“I received a call from my people today (Sunday) at about 4 am that yesterday (Saturday) night, they went for a burial and on their way back, they ran into armed men.
“The armed men shot and killed three of them and collected their bags. They also robbed some residents there and kidnapped two people. The victims were all young men.
“Apart from that, we have had one or two such incidents every other week.”
He alleged that the attackers often move into the community from neighbouring Katsina-Ala Local Government Area, taking advantage of the difficult terrain.
“So they cross from there to our side, attack and return to their side. It is a mountainous area with large forests,” the deputy majority chief whip said.
Gabo added that the matter has been reported to the police, noting that the Divisional Police Officer had already deployed security personnel to the area as of Sunday morning.
Efforts to reach the spokesperson for the Benue State Police Command, DSP Udeme Edet, were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.
