Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen launched another attack on the Udeku Maav-Ya community in Mbakyol Council Ward, Turan district of Kwande Local Government Area, Benue State, killing five people.
The attack, according to local sources, occurred on Tuesday evening while residents were still harvesting yams and bambara nuts from their farms.
The attack, according to one of the locals who simply identified as Terna, disrupted activities in the community.
When contacted, the Chairman of Kwande Local Government Area, Tersua Yarkwan, confirmed the killings.
He said the attackers did not immediately withdraw after the assault, which he said caused tension in the area.
Yarkwan, who described the area as a vulnerable border area that shares an international boundary with Cameroon, lamented that the terrain complicated security operations.
He said that the continued attacks during harvest season threatened food security.
Also confirming the incident, a former supervisory councillor in the local government, Akerigba Lawrence, decried the constant assault on the community.
He stated that residents of the community constantly faced sustained attacks and destruction of crops, homes, and economic trees, as well as restricted access to water sources.
He said the victims of the attack included Tyozua Gyuse, Gbaga Gyuse, and Tersuur Ijighka, adding that the names of two others were yet unknown.
He further said that search operations were ongoing to find some of the residents who had been declared missing at the time of filing this report.
Lawrence said schools, churches, and markets had been forced to shut down following repeated attacks.
Efforts to get comments from the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Udeme Edet, were unsuccessful as she was not reachable on her phone at the time of filing this report.
The fresh attack on farmers has triggered concerns over the influx of armed herders in Benue communities, which always happens during the dry season.