- The gunmen shot sporadically and killed anyone in their paths
- The assailants stormed the communities on motorbikes Sunday night at about 8 pm.
- A source said most of the locals fled their homes and took cover in the bush to escape the deadly onslaught
Rampaging gunmen terrorising Nigeria’s middle belt state of Benue have struck again.
The gunmen attacked Igba-Ukyor and Tse Baka communities of Ushongo Local Government Area, LGA, of the beleaguered state and killed six persons.
A source familiar with the latest attack said the assailants stormed the communities on motorbikes Sunday night at about 8 pm.
The gunmen shot sporadically and killed anyone in their paths.
“They rode on motorbikes from one village to the other. Igba Ukyor community was the first place they attacked. They killed five persons there and after that, they moved to nearby Tse Baka where they also killed one other person,” Vanguard quoted the source as saying.
He said locals fled their homes and took cover in the bush to escape the deadly onslaught.
According to him “the strange attack created pandemonium in the communities, people fled their homes for fear of being killed. Some of them ran into the bush last night to hide only to return this morning from their hiding places.”
The State Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Bemgba Iortyom who hails from Ushongo LGA confirmed the development.
Iortyom said: “Finding available to me indicate that unknown gunmen riding on Bajaj motorcycles stormed Igba-Ukyor settlement area of Daav, Ikóv Council Ward of Ushongo LGA at about 8 pm yesterday (Sunday), and shot indiscriminately with automatic firearms killing five persons on the spot.
“They were said to have proceeded to a Tse Baka which is a nearby settlement and killed one person. Information regarding their identity and motives are yet to be ascertained.”
The police in the state have not issued a statement on the incident.