A call for President Mohammadu Buhari, and the Minister of Defense to investigate the alleged involvement of the Nigerian Army in the recent genocide that took place in Benue state, has been made by the Ayatutu Cultural and Social Development Initiatives (AYACASODI).
The group who made the call via a press statement made available to media men yesterday in the state alleged that the killings, which were allegedly carried out by herders, have the backing of soldiers in Kente village of Wukari local government council of Taraba state.
The attack which occurred last Wednesday was confirmed to have led to the killings of no fewer than 42 persons among which are policemen.
The statement which was signed by Chief Baaki Timothy, David Nyiagee and Cliff Iormba, also called on the Inspector General of Police to investigate the matter “very well, because two of his men were directly affected.”
They admonished him to investigate “the difference in gunshots control between those who were aiming at the Nigerian Police officers and those who were sporadically shooting the civilians.”
In the early hours of last Wednesday, the “Fulani killer herdsmen” according to the group “invaded the Gbeji community when the people were deeply asleep, attacking them genocidal with heavy arms and ammunition.”
The attack which they said lasted for hours, “leads to the killings of more than 42 unarmed Tiv people, including women and children, with a lot receiving treatment at different hospitals after sustaining severe injuries; not just that, properties worth millions were destroyed in the same attack.”
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The said attack, “also saw the death of two police officers (an Inspector and a Constable) who were shot professionally by suspected Nigerian Army Personnel who accompanied the Fulani killers men.”
They also claimed that the “Tiv people were killed with the use of heavy and sophisticated weapons which are not constitutionally allowed to be possessed by civilians nor used for civil cases” adding that “Weapons supposed to be used in order to protect Nigerian Citizens were rather used against the same citizens”.
The Trumpet gathered that the attack came barely a month when suspected herders attacked Mchia and Mou villages in Logo local government council of the state.
Apart from the calls made by them to the President, IGP and the Minister of Defense, the need for the state governor, Samuel Ortom to be proactive, they believed has become necessary.
Sad that Ortom, Volunteer Guards were not seen close to the venue of the incident, they said “there is no need telling the whole world how prepared you are for security and defence when your people are continuously butchered with knives and there has been no self-defence of whatsoever kind.
Stating that the “incident in Mchia, Logo LGA is still fresh in our mind where Fulani went to a Tiv settlement deep inside Benue State and butchered people in large numbers. ”
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