No fewer than five farmers have been killed. In contrast, several others sustained varying degrees of injuries in a fresh attack by suspected herdsmen on the Mbakyor community behind the Federal Low-cost extension in the North Bank area of Makurdi, Benue State.
This is even as the Commissioner of Police, Benue State Command, CP Emenari Ifeanyi, disclosed that forty-two suspected armed herdsmen and local bandits attacking and killing farmers in the State have been arrested in the last One Month of his assumption of office.
CP Emenari also informed that two AK-47 rifles and 21 locally made firearms were recovered from the suspects.
The Commissioner of Police, Benue State Command, CP Emenari Ifeanyi, who made this known during an interaction with journalists in Makurdi, said out of the 42 suspects arrested, 10 have already been remanded at the Correction Centre, Makurdi.
However, a resident of the area who simply identified himself as Paul told our correspondent that the marauders stormed the community in the early hours of Thursday and started shooting sporadically at residents who were fleeing into the bushes on hearing the gunshots.
According to him, “the suspected herders who invaded the Mbakyor community about 3:00 a.m when everyone was asleep killed Five Farmers on the spot and injured several others while many people who ran into the surrounding bushes are still missing”
He said, “I was posted to Benue on the 24th of April 2025 and resumed duty on the 26th of the same Month. I can tell you that in the last Month, I have moved around all the flash points in Sankera, comprising Katsina/Ala, Ukum, and Logo, also Gwer—West, Apa, Agatu, Otukpo, Guma, among others, and interacted with traditional rulers and opinion leaders, and everyone was ready to give support in the fight against insecurity.
“What I observed in the communities visited was that farming has stopped because of the attacks, but I can tell you now that all the roads that were impassable in the State are now passable, and farmers in most communities, like Udei and Yelwata, among others, have started going to farm. This feat was not easy, but with teamwork with other security agencies, we can achieve this.
“I want to appreciate community members for their collaborative efforts, traditional rulers, and all the stakeholders, especially the Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia, in his full support and backing that led us to this success so far”
“ I believe with the passion and commitment shown by the governor in the fight against insecurity to enable farmers to go back to their farms and the displaced to return to their ancestral homes and with his support the support of community members there is significant improvement and the security agencies are working hard to ensure that the desired result to put an end to the sustained attacks on farmers is achieved.”
He also said the command, which has deployed more officers to all the flash points for visibility policing, is also working in synergy with other sister agencies to end cult activities and kidnapping in the state. That is why you have not witnessed or recorded cult-related attacks in the state in the last month since I assumed office.
The CP, who commended journalists for professionalism, called on people to always alert the Police when they see something. He also appealed to parents and caregivers to talk to their children, saying that with him, there would be no room for criminality in Benue.
