Residents Run For Their Lives As Bandits Invade Communities, Kill Soldier, Many Others
Several individuals have lost their lives in a fatal attack carried out by armed bandits in som ecommunities.
Those affected including a soldier and many civilians, were reportedly slain in separate assaults by alleged bandits in Kwande and Apa Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Benue State during the past weekend.
The attacks took place between Saturday and Sunday in Udedeku community of Maav-Ya, Mkoonmom District, Mbaikyor Council Ward, Turan Jato-Aka, and Ochumekwu in Kwande and Apa LGAs, respectively.
A local source disclosed that the bandits stormed the Udedeku community in Kwande, where numerous casualties were reported, with some locals currently unaccounted for.
Confirming the incidents, the Force Commander, Operations Whirl Stroke, Major General Sunday Igbinomwanhia, revealed that suspected armed bandits launched an assault on soldiers stationed in Ochumekwu, Apa LGA, resulting in the fatality of one soldier and the injury of another.
He stated, “Suspected armed bandits have attacked soldiers deployed in Ochumekwu, Apa LGA, killed one personnel, and wounded one. The troops in response killed three and injured several of them. They recovered one AK-47 rifle and rounds of ammunition from them.”
Concerning the Kwande attack, the OPWS Commander noted that troops were engaged in a clearance operation aimed at expelling suspected armed foreign bandits who infiltrated the LG.
Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Catherine Anene, acknowledged the incursion into the forest in Kwande but indicated she had not received reports of any fatalities.
