378 Persons Killed By Fulani Herdsmen In Agatu Communities In Two Years – Agatu Forum

mournersThe Agatu people of Benue State, under the aegis of Agatu Network Forum, have called on the Federal Government to protect them, lamenting that attacks by Fulani herdsmen from Nasarawa State in the last two years has resulted in the death of 378 of their kinsmen.

It would be recalled that at least 94 persons were killed in Egba – part of Agatu community – about two weeks ago by suspected Fulani herdsmen, who also left destruction of property and farmlands in the wake of their attack.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, Chairman of the Forum, Chris Enechie, noted that the attacks by Fulani herdsmen had displaced 15,760 Agatu indigenes while 1,317 homes had been destroyed.

He added that 1,480 livestock had been lost, with 142 motorcycles and 17 vehicles destroyed during the incessant attacks on various Agatu communities, including Okokolo, Egba, Obagaji, Usha, and Ogwule Kaduna.

According to Enechie, other Agatu communities, such as Oshugbudu, Enugba and Ogwule Ogbaulu, had also suffered similar devastating attacks from the marauders, whom he said wanted to drive the indigenous people from their ancestral homes.

Enechie, therefore, pleaded with the federal government to establish a military post in Agatuland to protect the people from further attacks, adding that the people could no longer cultivate their farmlands for fear of being attacked and killed.