Armed herders kill four security men on patrol in Benue

Armed herdsman

Four security men have reportedly been killed by suspected armed herders at the Udei community in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.

The incident, according to a source who pleaded anonymity because he lacked the authority to speak with the media on the matter, happened on Tuesday evening when a team of joint security operatives was on a patrol of the area.

The joint security team codenamed the Buffalo Squad of Operation Zenda, comprised of men of the Mobile Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Counter-Terrorism Unit of the Police and the Benue State Civil Protection Guards.

The team was said to have been attacked while on routine patrol along the Daudu-Yelewata road.

A security man who did not want to be mentioned since he doesn’t have the authority to speak said, “Members of the team were patrolling the Daudu-Yelewata area on Tuesday evening when they got to Udei and spotted a smoke billowing from the community about two kilometres from the express road.

“They immediately drove into the bush to ascertain the reason for the fire. And on getting close to the community, they ran into an ambush by armed herdsmen in large numbers on motorbikes who were busy burning down the village.

“In the ensuing gunfight, three of the security personnel were killed, one of them was, however, declared missing and when a call was put to his mobile phone later, somebody who spoke in a strange language picked up the call. So, it was obvious that they killed him.” Punch