At least 47 persons were feared
dead in two separate incidents in Benue in what appeared to be a bloody
yuletide in the state following a clash between Fulani herdsmen and native
Tiv farmers at Agasha and a boat mishap on River Buruku, in Buruku
local government area. Saturday Vanguard gathered that seven persons lost their
lives at Agasha, Guma local government area of the state in a fresh skirmish
between the natives and Fulani herdsmen.
A
reliable source told Saturday Vanguard that the crisis which erupted few
days to Christmas spilled into yesterday, leaving seven persons dead while
property and farmland worth millions of Naira were also destroyed. ”The crisis
started just few days to Christmas when the herdsmen invaded Nzorov and
Gbajimba and from there they moved to Agasha, burning and destroying anything
in sight.”
”About seven person may have so
far been killed in the fighting, we are
yet to account for some missing persons, but in the next few days, we should be
able to come out with an authentic figure of the dead.” the source added. Meantime,
it’s all wailing and crying in Buruku, after about 40 persons were feared dead
in a Boxing Day boat tragedy at River Buruku when the wooden boat conveying
them across the river capsized at the middle of the river.
An eye witness told Saturday
Vanguard that, the victims of the mishap were young fun seekers; “They met
their untimely death while returning from a picnic on the other side of the
river.
”When they arrived the boarding
point at about 8pm yesterday, most of
them were drunk, they boarded the canoe and jam packed themselves in the wooden
boat against the advice of everyone including the driver that conveyed them.
”Unfortunately, the canoe could not make it to
the other side of the river, it capsized at the middle of the river; as I speak
to you, bodies of most of the victims are yet to be recovered from the river.
When contacted, the Benue State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Deputy
Superintendent, DSP, Daniel Ezeala confirmed the death of seven persons in the
Guma crisis but pointed out that he was yet to get the full details of the
Buruku boat mishap
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