About 500 persons have been declared missing by a socio-cultural group in Benue State following a recent attack by suspected Fulani herdsmen in the state.
The spokesperson for the group, Chief Edward Ujege, told journalists in Makurdi, the capital, that the incident led to the displacement of more than 500, 000 people.
Speaking further, Ujege called on police authorities to arrest leaders of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, a splinter group of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, for saying that the new anti-open grazing law enacted by the Benue State Government was going to attract violence.
He said between 2013 and 2016, herdsmen sponsored by the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, carried out about 40 deadly attacks in 14 of the 23 local government areas of Benue State.
He said, “We paid dearly for the atrocities of the herdsmen with over 2,000 lives of our men, women and children. Till date, over 500 persons are missing while over half a million people are displaced and the future of almost one million youths is truncated.
“Over 9,000 households have been affected by the attacks carried out by herdsmen while properties worth N95bn were destroyed in 2014 alone.”
Ujege said that the people of the state were prepared to ensure the success of the anti-open grazing law while dismissing claims that it was restricting the movement of pastoralists.
Source: ( Punch Newspaper)
