The Chairman of Agatu Local Government Area in Benue State, Melvin Ejeh, has vowed that the criminal herders responsible for Sunday’s deadly ambush on traders in the Ogwumogbo and Okpo’okpolo communities will be hunted down and brought to justice.
In a statement issued on Monday, the chairman condemned the attack in which six persons returning from Oweto Market were killed.
He described the incident as a “barbaric, criminal, and heinous act” that threatens the fragile peace efforts being championed by his administration in the crisis-prone local government.
“It is sad and highly regrettable that some criminal herders are bent on causing yet another crisis despite the painstaking efforts by my administration to restore permanent peace in Agatu land,” Ejeh said.
He assured residents that the police, military, DSS, and other security agencies had already launched operations to identify, locate, and apprehend those behind the killings.
“The perpetrators and their sponsors must not go unpunished,” he declared.
While addressing concerns of possible insecurity in the area, Ejeh called on citizens to remain calm and continue their daily activities, noting that the council is fully collaborating with security agencies to secure lives and property.
“Anybody who is found to be aiding and abetting criminality in the local government area will be dealt with according to the law,” he warned.
The chairman also provided clarity on the casualty figures from the attack, disputing media reports which claimed that 15 people were killed.
According to him, only six lives were lost in the ambush, and two others sustained injuries. He identified the deceased as – Haruna Shuaibu (M), Samuel Ibrahim, Aliyu Yahaya, Oyenge Adams (M), Malik Gabriel (M) and Fatima Shuaibu (F).
