Two weeks after the Fulani herdsmen attack in Benue, locals say both affected LGAs are still being occupied by the perpetrators of the deadly attacks.
“The herdsmen are still there, and we can’t just return,” Fafa, one of the farmers displaced from a village in Guma, told TheCable.
Fafa and his family had made a run for their lives the moment they heard of the attacks on a nearby village.
“We were running and hoping we see security operatives to help us return because we know these herders will loot our storehouse, but nobody was there to provide security for us,” he said.
At a primary school in Daudu, a village in Guma where Fafa and hundreds of displaced persons are being camped, the people are increasingly worried over the security situation.
Elisha, a displaced farmer, told TheCable that “policemen ran away” upon sighting herdsmen.
“Once, the policemen came and told us to follow them so that we can get foodstuff from our storehouse, but when they saw the herdsmen, they left us and ran away,” he said.
Several other displaced persons expressed fear of returning home, citing the lack of security operatives on ground to protect them from possible attacks.
When contacted, Moses Yamu, Benue state police public relations officer, said adequate security had been provided in the affected areas.
“I don’t know how people will say there is no police presence in Logo and Guma,” he told TheCable.
“But, can police secure every house in the place? You don’t expect police to escort you or to go and stand in your house before you will go and stay in your house.
“If policeman will be planted in every house, do you think police will go round? Security has been fortified along that axis and we have not recorded any case of attack for the past three or four days now. And that is to tell you that the presence of the security is everywhere.
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