Police fire teargas at Benue residents protesting insecurity

The police in Benue State have dispersed residents protesting the insecurity in the state following the killing of more than 100 people by terrorists who invaded Yelwata town of Guma Local Government Area Friday night.

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PREMIUM TIMES reported that the terrorists, described by some residents and government officials as Fulani militia, besieged the town’s market square where many displaced people were seeking refuge. Residents said the terrorists opened fire and macheted many people. They also razed properties worth millions of Naira.

Residents of Yelwata town, however, protested the killings on Saturday evening, blocking the Lafia-Makurdi highway, a commuter who witnessed the protest told PREMIUM TIMES.

The protest spread to Makurdi, the capital city of Benue, on Sunday morning, with many protesters, clad in black dresses, waving leaves and chanting: “No violence.” Many of the protesters also carried placards with various inscriptions.

Linus Egwu, a Benue-based local journalist monitoring the situation, told this newspaper that the police fired tear gas at the protesters, dispersing them.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the Benue police command, Udeme Edet, said she was not aware of the protest. Ms Edet promised to follow up with the situation and revert.

The latest attack in Benue began barely two weeks after the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Olufemi Oluyede, moved to Benue State to stem the violence in the state.

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Mr Oluyede, a lieutenant-general who arrived in the state with some top military officers, held a closed-door meeting with Governor Hyacinth Alia at the Government House in Makurdi. Thereafter, he visited some affected communities.

READ ALSO: Insecurity: Special forces have started arriving Benue – Gov. Alia

On Sunday, Governor Alia said the federal government has deployed tactical security teams to the state to check the attack on communities.

“We assure citizens that more tactical teams have started arriving in Benue from the federal government, and additional security deployments are being arranged for vulnerable areas,” he said in a statement by his spokesperson.