Fear has gripped the residents of the Udei community in Guma local government area in Benue State, who were fleeing in droves following the attack and killing of Four Police Officers in their attempt to repel an attack on the community by armed Herdsmen on Sunday.
Our correspondent gathered that the terrorists who attempted a simultaneous attack on four communities of Daudu, Tse Ashongu, Tse Asha and could not succeed ended up killing Four Mobile Police Officers at Tse Abough in Udei community.
A source in the area who does not want his name in print told our correspondent on the phone that the rampaging herders attempted to invade the Ortese Internally Displaced Persons camp hosting thousands of displaced persons, but were unable to penetrate as they were engaged by the combined team of security personnel stationed in the area.
“I think the herders constantly hearing about the return of the IDPs to their ancestral homes are targeting the camps now, this time around is the Ortese camp which is hosting Thousands of IDPs, if not the quick intervention of the military personnel and other security agencies stationed in the area who engaged the marauders in the bush and halted their move into Ortese camp the world would have stand still for this one,”the source said.
A youth in the area who identified himself as Kaase told our correspondent that the herders tried to invade Daudu in their first attempt, but the security personnel engaged them. They then went to Tse Ashongu and Asha, but the community members who were on alert fled before their arrival.
According to him, “the marauding herders on their way to attack Ortese Internally Displaced Persons camp started shooting to scare the IDPs before their arrival, but the combined team of Army and other security personnel engaged them in a gun battle and they flee to Udei town which is a stone throw to Yelwata, the recent attack community where over 200 persons were killed.
He said, “At Udei, the terrorists started shooting sporadically to scare residents and were again engaged in a gun battle with the Mobile Police Officers stationed there, and in the process, four of the officers were killed on the spot, and the terrorists carted away with their arms and ammunition.
The Udei attacks are coming 16 days after a similar attack on the Yelewata community, which is a stone’s throw from Udei, claiming over 200 lives, with several injured persons undergoing treatment in the hospital, while over 4000 survivors displaced are taking refuge at the Makurdi International Market.
Efforts to get a reaction from Police Public Relations Officer Udeme Edet did not yield a result as she was neither picking up her calls nor replying to text messages sent to her.
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