It was another bloody day
in Benue State yesterday. Gunmen, suspected to be herdsmen, killed two Catholic
priests and 14 others in two attacks.
In the first attack, they
invaded St. Ignatius Quasi Parish, Ukpor Mbalon, Gwer Local Government Area, at
dawn during a mass, shooting dead the priests and 11 parishioners.
The heartless gunmen killed
three others later.
Police Commissioner Fatai
Owoseni said the gunmen “attacked worshippers around 5 a.m. during morning
Mass. Other victims were killed during a burial ceremony later in the day.”
He described the attacks as
“unfortunate” and vowed to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
Owoseni said that
preliminary investigation revealed that the herdsmen had stayed around the area
for sometime before carrying out the attacks. The commissioner said more
policemen had been deployed in the area to forestall further attacks.
The Nation reports that the
attackers sacked the village, setting ablaze 35 houses.
The Catholic Diocese of
Makurdi gave the names of its slain priests as Rev. Fathers Joseph Gor and
Felix Tyolaha of St Ignatius Quasi Parish, Ukpor.
A statement by its Director
of Communications, Rev. Fr. Moses Iorapuu, said that the attacks were
perpetrated by herdsmen who stormed Mbalom and killed the two priests during
the morning mass.
The diocese expressed
regrets at what it described as the nonchalant attitude of the security
agencies in containing the killings.
It said the herdsmen burnt
down houses, destroyed crops and killed people.
The church urged the
authorities to stop the killings in the Benue valley.
Iorapuu said the Diocese
had been providing food and relief materials to Internally Displaced Persons
(IDPs) since the beginning of the violence in the state and wondered why it
could be a target of attacks.
“The attacks on the priests
are attacks on everything that we ever stood for and believed in,” he added.
Rev. Fr. Mbachie and Igyor
who were at the Benue State Police Command headquarters after conveying the
priests’ bodies to the mortuary, said the attackers escaped unchallenged and
there was no security man to confront them. Worshippers fled the scene for
their dear lives.
It was learnt that when
youthsin Makurdi, the state capital, saw the body of one of the slain priests
being brought to St Theresa’s Hospital Mortuary without its head, they got
angry and took to the streets in protest.
The protest forced traders
to shut down the popular Wurukum market. Banks and other business premises were
hurriedly shut. Parents withdrew their children from schools.
The popular Katsina Ala
Street, Igyor Chia Ayu Road and Makurdi – Gboko was deserted as residents
trekked many kilometres to their destinations.
Fr. Iyorapuu wondered why
despite the heavy presence of the Police, the Navy, Army and Air Force in
Makurdi and Benue State, the killings had continued unabated sine the beginning
of the year.
Governor Samuel Ortom has
cut short his vacation in China. He is on his way back home.
Chief Press Secretary to
the Governor Terver Akase said the governor would return to Makurdi “any moment
from now because of the security challenge."
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