No fewer than three people have reportedly been killed, and several others injured in a violent clash between suspected armed herdsmen and local hunters at Okpomaju village in Okete Ward, Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State.
The crisis has also forced women and children to flee from the affected communities for fear of being killed by the rampaging herdsmen.
According to a source in the area who spoke on condition of anonymity, the incident which happened yesterday during a hunting expedition in the community claimed the lives of two hunters and a herder.
According to him, “the armed herders who were relatively new in Okpomaju community, saw the hunters in the bush and mistook them for enemies and opened fire on them killing two on the spot while several others sustained varying degrees of injury.
“The news of the incident filtered into the community and their was pandemonium. The people particularly women and children stated fleeing for safety to neigbouring communities.
“Even in Ugboju District, also in Otukpo LGA, farmers in Akpachi, Oboh and neighbouring communities have abandoned their farms for fear of being killed by the herdsmen who are intimidating them with gunshots.”
One of the farmers, Sunday Oga who spoke to reporters in tears said he was chased from his farm by a herder who was carrying a gun and a machete leaving his harvested yams and other farm produce at the mercy of his grazing cattle.
Also, one of the hunters in Okpomaju who narrowly escaped death said “we were out on our usual hunting exercise when we encountered a hostile group of Fulani herdsmen who opened fire at us immediately they sited us, causing fatal injuries on some of us.
“Expectedly, we fired back and felled one of them while others started retreating. But we lost two of our colleagues while another who was hit at the belly was rushed to the Federal University of Health Sciences Teaching Hospital Otukpo for medical attention.”
When contacted, the Och’Otukpo Odu, Chief John Eimonye who confirmed the incident said he had scheduled a meeting with the leader of the herdsmen to find solution to the crisis.
The Royal Fathers denied allegation that the herdsmen became emboldened because they paid monies to the Chiefs and locals for grazing land in the area.
The Chairman of Otukpo Local Government Council, Mr Maxwell Ogiri, also confirmed the incident. He said measures had been put in place to prevent a reoccurence.
According to him, some of the measures included the resolve of the leaders of the herdsmen to fish out any of their kinsmen on a mission to instigate crisis in the area.
He said: “They also promised to forge harmonious relationship with the Otukpo people because most of them were born and brought up in Otukpo.”
Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Chief Superintendent, CSP, Catherine Anene said she was yet to receive reports on the incident.
