There is currently tension
in the land within the past few days when the report surfaced in the media that
over 50 cows belonging to the cattle breeders were reportedly killed by Benue-Agatu
people.
The irate herdsmen have
threatened to attack the community for reportedly killing their cattle.
A resident of Ogwule in
Agatu told our reporter that many residents have deserted the community for the
fear of being attacked by the cattle breeders-turned-gunmen.
Asked if over 50 cows were
truly killed as widely reported in the media, the resident, who gave his name
as Samson described the report as untrue and misleading.
According to him, not even
a single cow was killed by the Agatu people, stressing that it was an avenue
they want to use in attacking the ravaged community.
“That is a lie. A big lie,
untrue and misleading. Nobody killed any cow belonging to Fulani people. These
people are going about claiming in the media that we killed 80 of their cattle
in Agatu, but I can tell you that it is a big lie. They have threatened to
attack our people, in fact, as we speak, many persons have fled their homes for
the fear of being attacked by these marauders,” Samson said.
He called on the relevant
security agents to beef up security in the volatile area.
“The police, army and other
security agencies should come to our aide before they unleash another terror on
our land,” he pleaded.
“We want the federal
government to quickly draft more security men into the area to thwart any
outbreak of violence,” Samson said.
Reacting to the
development, President of One Idoma Initiative, Barrister Paul Edeh noted that
from their findings, the Agatu people did not kill any cow belonging to the
herdsmen, warning that any attempt to carry out another attack on the community
would not go down well with the people of Idoma.
“From our findings, we can
authoritatively tell you that such did not happen. These people go about lying
in the media that their cattle were killed without providing pictorial
evidence.
“We are calling on
leadership of of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association to call its members
to order as further attack on Agatu or any part of Benue would not go down
well,”Edeh warned.
Efforts to Baba Othman
Ngelzarma, the national secretary of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association
could not yield any result as his phones were unreachable at the time of filing
this report.
dis is getting seriou government need to do something
ReplyDeleteCan they just go back to the north, I sense trouble they should leave the south
ReplyDelete