Gunmen Defy Curfew, Kill 18 in Fresh Benue Attack

On Friday night, 18 people were killed when bandits suspected of carrying guns invaded Mbacher community located in the Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State’s Mbacher Council Ward.

Our correspondent was informed by local government sources that the attack occurred at 11:00 pm, in defiance of the state government-imposed curfew.

It was reported that the bandits had called a meeting with the villagers to speak to them, but instead opened fire.

It should be noted that, two weeks ago, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia – the Governor of Benue State – introduced a curfew from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am in the Sankera axis due to a tumultuous demonstration within Ukum LGA. This area encompasses Katsina-Ala, Ukum and Logo and has been known for its high occurrence of criminal behavior throughout the state.

According to the source, on Saturday morning, the military discovered and retrieved 18 bodies.

The Chairman of Katsina-Ala LGA, Justine Shaku, confirmed the incident and stated that the bandits had already finished their assault by the time military personnel arrived.

Yesterday (Friday) at around 11:00 pm, the villagers alerted us of a distress call reporting that terrorists were going door to door and coercing people to join them.

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Shaku revealed that despite swiftly rallying the military officials in Tor Doonga, their late arrival to the remote location resulted in missing out on thwarting the attack.

Several people were wounded during the attack, as mentioned by Shaku.

“They informed me it was 17, but today we’ve confirmed that there are actually 18 deceased individuals. Regrettably, all of them were congregated in one location and met their demise,” he stated.

Referring to the gunmen’s tactics that resemble guerrilla warfare, the council chairman classified their actions as “local terrorism”.

Due to the presence of terrorist activities, I have stopped referring to them as bandits.

Shaku added that while external forces may assist them, the majority of the perpetrators are local terrorists.

Despite attempts to contact Catherine Anene, the Police Public Relations Officer, her phone remained unanswered.

The occurrence was attested to by Joseph Har, the Governor Hyacinth Alia’s Special Adviser on Security and Internal Affairs.