Fulani Herdsmen Killed My Uncle and Dropped His Corpse at the Back of Our House - Benue Survivor

A survivor of the Benue attacks, James Igbudu has described how Fulani herdsmen attacked one of the communites leaving his uncle dead.

Igbudu explained that his uncle, Julius Ntwangwa, who worked with the Benue State Agriculture and Rural Development Agency, was among those killed by the herdsmen, who dropped his corpse at the back of the house.


He said, “The herdsmen were moving out of Benue State through the road connecting Benue State and Nasarawa State when they decided to block the road. The road is between Umuange and Barkin Kota. They attacked the people who came for the New Year celebration. They butchered a lot of them that night.

“We managed to sleep till this morning (Tuesday). We thought they would not return. However, this morning, I was sleeping when I heard sudden screaming.

“Immediately I woke up, I heard a gunshot. I quickly held my mother and two children as there was confusion in the village. There were a lot of old people around. We jumped into the bush, from where we burst out to the main road. As we burst out, there were gunshots at out back.”

In a report by Punch, Igbudu said he called the state Police Public Relations Officer, Joseph Yamu, to alert him to the attacks, adding that Yamu informed him that the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the area was already heading for the community.

The survivor explained that after dropping off his mother and children in Makurdi, the state capital, he returned to the community without seeing any policeman.

He stated that he later learnt that the DPO and some officers had gone to another village which had been attacked by the herdsmen.

“I went to that village, which is close to the governor’s town, and saw nine corpses. They brought them to Gbadima Hospital. My uncle, Julius Ntwangwa, who had come to celebrate the New Year, was also killed.

“Six others, who were critically injured in my village, were also brought to the hospital,” he added.