There are fears that Agatu may soon come under serious attack from suspected Fulani herdsmen following a recent media speculation that over 50 cows belonging to the cattle breeders were reportedly killed by Agatu people while trying to cross to Nasarawa State last weekend.
DAILY POST gathered that there is currently palpable tension in the land within the past few days when the report surfaced in the media as the irate herdsmen have threatened to attack the community for reportedly killing their cattle.
A resident of Ogwule in Agatu told our reporter that many residents have deserted the community for the fear of being attacked by the cattle breeders-turned-gunmen.
Asked if over 50 cows were truly killed as widely reported in the media, the resident, who gave his name as Samson described the report as untrue and misleading.
According to him, not even a single cow was killed by the Agatu people, stressing that it was an avenue they want to use in attacking the ravaged community.
“That is a lie. A big lie, untrue and misleading. Nobody killed any cow belonging to Fulani people. These people are going about claiming in the media that we killed 80 of their cattle in Agatu, but I can tell you that it is a big lie. They have threatened to attack our people, in fact, as we speak, many persons have fled their homes for the fear of being attacked by these marauders,” Samson said.
He called on the relevant security agents to beef up security in the volatile area.
“The police, army and other security agencies should come to our aide before they unleash another terror on our land,” he pleaded.
“We want the federal government to quickly draft more security men into the area to thwart any outbreak of violence,” Samson said.
Reacting to the development, President of One Idoma Initiative, Barrister Paul Edeh noted that from their findings, the Agatu people did not kill any cow belonging to the herdsmen, warning that any attempt to carry out another attack on the community would not go down well with the people of Idoma.
“From our findings, we can authoritatively tell you that such did not happen. These people go about lying in the media that their cattle were killed without providing pictorial evidence.
“We are calling on leadership of of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association to call its members to order as further attack on Agatu or any part of Benue would not go down well,”Edeh warned.
Efforts to Baba Othman Ngelzarma, the national secretary of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association could not yield any result as his phones were unreachable at the time of filing this report.
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