Police: 22 – not 81 – died in 4 ‘herdsmen’ attacks in 6 weeks
The Benue state police command says 22 people — not the 81 being reported — were killed over the last two months by suspected herdsmen.
Fulani herdsmen were reported to have killed scores in attacks on Logo and Ukum council areas of Benue state.
However, the state police command, has described the figure as “a gross misrepresentation of the true facts on ground in the state”.
A statement released on Tuesday by Moses Joel Yamu, spokesman of the command, noted that four herdsmen attacks took place within the past six weeks.
“The Benue state command witnessed incidents of herdsmen attacks on some communities in the state, including: Logo and Ukum LGAs where we recorded 22 deaths between 30th May and 20th June, 2016,” it said.
The police also gave a breakdown of the cases of attacks and casualties recorded in the state within the six-week time frame.
“On May 30, Tse Ankyou communicties in Ukum LGA were attacked, where seven persons were killed. On June 21, Vaase community of Ukum LGA was attacked and 4 persons killed.
“On June 17, Mbachom community in the Turan council ward and Tse Fabo village, in the Nenzev council ward, were attacked and one and six persons were killed respectively. On June 20, Anyiin community was attacked and 4 persons were killed.”
Here we have a competent police force of a nation busy counting dead bodies and arguing the accuracy of their numbers instead of apprehending the culprits and charging them to court. Have we degraded so low? Does smaller number of dead bodies make the crime less heinous?