A civil rights advocacy group on the aegis of Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has described the killing of four policemen on Sunday by herders in Udei community in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, as unacceptable violence.
HURIWA while condemning the killings, called for urgent foolproof proactive security measures to stem the tide, stressing that the intelligence community must ascertain the exact locations whereby the mass murderers are coming from with a view to ensuring that future incursions into any farming communities to cause havoc and unleash violence by them are nipped in the bud.
It noted that it more strategic to prevent the attacks than to wait for an attack to happen before the security forces would go after these terrorists.
HURIWA in a statement by Emmanuel Onwubiko, national coordinator, noted that Udei community is less than 15 -minutes drive from the Yelewata community that was equally invaded over two weeks ago by armed bandits.
It further said that the marauders who launched the attacks at about 11 am, also attempted to storm neighbouring Daudu but were repelled by a combined team of security agencies and the youths of the area.
HURIWA said that based on report, the marauders had invaded the Asha community, where they shot sporadically, chasing people away from their farms, and it eventually escalated to Ortese, which is home to thousands of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs.
It quoted a source as having said that the quick intervention of the military personnel stationed in the area who engaged the marauders in the bush halted their move into Ortese, adding that no resident was killed in the renewed attack.
HURIWA applauded the efforts of the Army at stopping the large-scale attack, and urged the security forces to explore hard-core intelligence to prevent the incessant attacks from taking place.
The Rights group tasked the police Inspector General of Police (IGP), to ensure that police operatives posted to the frontline of terrorists’ attacks are adequately equipped with the right kind of weapons to overwhelm the terrorists and defend the citizens of Nigeria.
