Gunmen on Tuesday night invaded Agboughul community in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, and killed a legal practitioner, his wife and a blind old man.
The victims were identified as Moses Udam, Mrs Nkechi Udam and Nyikyor Mazugu.
Three persons, comprising two children of the blind and a sister to the deceased lawyer, were injured in the attack.
The gunmen, who were eight in number were said to have attacked Agboughul around 11pm and also ransacked the neighborhood where they collected N200,000 from one Amaa Atee.
According to Atee, “The gunmen who spoke English and Fulani languages stormed the community between 11pm and midnight.
“The first place they visited was the thatched house of the old blind man where they killed the elderly man. It was his children who were able to escape that raised the alarm.
“I learnt they later went to the lawyer’s house where they vandalised his house and killed him and the wife. My wife ran away while I climbed the ceiling and left behind my children.
“When they arrived at my house, they met the two grown-up children and asked where their father was; and they told them I was not around.”
The Benue State Police Command, which confirmed the attack in a terse statement by its spokesperson, Catherine Anene, said, “Gunmen attacked Agboghul village, Makurdi, claimed the lives of two persons. One person is receiving treatment at BSUTH. Policemen deployed to forestall further breach of peace.”
The State Governor, Samuel Ortom, who was at the scene of the attack on Wednesday, described the attackers as terrorists.
The governor, who recalled that a few days ago, some persons were killed in Makurdi, added, “There is no way we can compromise having law against open grazing and the law is not targeted at any ethnic group.
“Benue State under my watch will not succumb to Fulani jihadist no matter the intimidation. Let them know that the day of reckoning is very near. We are not going to be provoked,” the governor said.
When contacted, the Commander of Operation Whirl Stroke, Major General Adeyemi Yekini, said his troops were in the area but declined further comments.
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Crime