Lafia—Suspected armed herdsmen attacked Agboda community in Mararaba Udege, Nasarawa Local Government Area of Nasarawa State on Monday evening, injuring one person with a machete as he was on his way to a church crusade, which disrupted the gathering.
The organiser of the crusade, Dr. Daniel Ukpo, expressed his dismay regarding the rampant attacks carried out by herdsmen in the Mararaba Udege area during a phone interview with our reporter.
“The incident happened between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Agboda in Mararaba Udege when we gathered for a church crusade. Suddenly, people started running for safety as news of an attack on the community by herdsmen spread,” he explained.
“One of the youths in the community was attacked with a machete while on his motorcycle, and his attackers seized his motorcycle. When the news reached the village where we were holding the crusade, confusion set in, and people began to flee in different directions.
“We had to end the crusade abruptly as the atmosphere became tense and people were running helplessly for safety,” Ukpo added, noting that the frequency of herdsmen attacks and killings in the area had escalated the panic.
“I went to a community called Ochimi to preach, and the traditional ruler confessed to me that I should pray for them because herdsmen are eating their crops and killing his people,” he revealed.
Ukpo pointed out that the lack of security presence in the area has left the community vulnerable. He recalled a recent incident where an individual was brutally killed by armed Fulani herdsmen.
“People are being killed on the roads and in their farms without reports being made. The killings in this area are worrisome. The government must come to the rescue of these communities. There have been times when we organised crusades, and Fulani herders stopped us from proceeding, not once, not twice.
“The sad reality is that there is no one here to challenge these armed herdsmen who are destroying farms and communities in this area. The people are tired, but because they have nowhere else to go, they remain at the mercy of armed herdsmen.”
Leave a Reply