Suspected herdsmen on Monday shot three persons dead while working on their farm in the Yelwata area of Benue State.
Three others are in critical condition with gunshot injuries from the attack.
The news of the early morning attack got to Yelwata community, which led to a protest by women in the community against what they describe as the failure of soldiers to respond to the attacks on time, leaving the police and youths mobilised to the area to repel the herdsmen.
Confirming the incident to Channels Television in a telephone conversation, Matthew Mnyam, a former government official, said attempts by him and many leaders to persuade the women to vacate the federal highway connecting Benue and Nasarawa states were rejected as the women insisted soldiers leave their communities for allegedly refusing to protect them.
He said, “This morning, three persons were killed by Fulani herdsmen while three others were discovered with severe gunshot injuries from the attack, leaving them in critical condition as we speak.
“This prompted a protest by women from the Yelwata community on the renewed killings.
“The commissioner of police is there at the moment trying to handle the matter, while I have sent a message to the Secretary of Guma Local Government Area (LGA) to reach out to the chairman to intervene in the matter.”
When contacted, Guma LGA boss Maurice Orwough confirmed the incident and the protest at Yelwata and appealed to all persons of goodwill to work for peace.
In June, scores of residents in the Yelwata area in Benue were killed and over 3000 persons displaced during an overnight attack by suspected herdsmen. Though the government put the number of slain persons at 59, civil rights groups claimed that about 200 deaths were recorded.
The killings in Benue have attracted national outrage and global attention from Pope Leo XIV, who condemned the “terrible massacre” and called for an end to it.