There were reports yesterday of a gunfire exchange between suspected herdsmen and military personnel near Tse Asha and Ukange villages in Guma Local Council of Benue State.

This was as houses were razed, and properties destroyed when violence broke out between residents of Mbaiase in Gwer East Local Council and Igbinde village in Konshisha Local Council of state.

Consequently, the former chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs Farida Waziri, called on President Bola Tinubu to take decisive action to address the worsening security situation in the country.

Witnesses said the confrontation by the gunmen suspected to be herders and the security operatives took place about two kilometres from the Ortese Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp.

A resident, Zege Orkwande, said security operatives had yet to issue an official statement regarding the incident. Efforts to reach the Benue State Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) were unsuccessful, as she did not respond to messages sent by our correspondent.

Earlier, a counter-insurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, reported that the attack occurred around 9.30 a.m. on Saturday. It was allegedly stoked by suspected militias from Mbaiase, who stormed Igbinde village in the Mbagusa/Mbatser Ward of Konshisha.

The publication said many thatched houses were set ablaze during the assault and valuable property destroyed. Waziri gave the charge when she paid a visit to victims of the Yelwata attack at the IDP camp in Makurdi over the weekend.

After being taken around the IDP camp by Ager Tema and other officials of the Benue Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the former EFCC boss grew emotional as she was confronted with the pathetic situation of the victims, some of whom have lost their entire families to the pogrom on June 13 when over 200 persons, including infants and other IDPs, were massacred.

The victims, The Guardian gathered, are now temporarily accommodated at the yet-to-be commissioned International Market Makurdi, which has been converted to an emergency IDP camp by the state government.

She decried the brutal attack on Benue and other parts of the country, expressing concern over the deteriorating state of insecurity in the country and called on Tinubu to take “concrete and immediate steps to address the worsening security situation in the country”. (The Guardian)

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