Olalekan Adetayo and John Charles
Death toll in Monday’s attacks on Zaki Biam International Market in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State has risen to 52.
This was just as President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday directed security agencies to begin immediate investigation into the killings.
One of our correspondents, who covered Governor Samuel Ortom tour of the area, learnt that the attackers operated for about three hours without any response from security operatives.
Some locals, who spoke with newsmen, said 13 persons were killed at the Zaki Biam International Yam Market, five from the National Secondary School, eight at Debeer and over 15 at Asahatar Village.
The locals, who pleaded anonymity, also said that several persons were abducted.
About 30 gunmen were said to have invaded the Yam Market around 3pm.
The men, who were said to have been armed with sophisticated weapons, were said to have entered the town in a pick-up van, a Toyota Corolla and seven motorcycles.
They were said to have fired sporadically into the air to scare away the people.
“Before now, they had written a letter that they would attack the area. They wore military uniform. They attacked Zaki Biam International Yam Market, killing 13 people and injuring over 10 persons.
“The gunmen were chanting a song that meant anyone who is brave should come out. The operation lasted for over three hours and security men in the area did nothing only for them to arrest innocent people later,” one of the locals told one of our correspondents.
A Security personnel, who did not want his name in print, said there was a security report earlier that the gunmen would attack and so, the Divisional Police Officer had drafted his men to banks, hotels, schools and other institutions to safeguard them.
“We were dispatched as early as 8am to those public institutions to beef up security and the gunmen attacked by 3pm. They numbered over 30 and abducted so many people,” he said.
It was observed that many houses were burnt down as several people had fled the area just as shops and other institutions in the area were closed down.
At the St. Anthony Hospital in the town, 15 corpses were in the morgue as of the time the governor visited, while more corpses were said to have been deposited at the Zaki Biam General Hospital and NKST Hospital.
Many families were seen with their belongings leaving the area.
Ortom also paid a visit to injured persons at the Light of Grace Hospital and the St. Anthony Hospital.
He appealed to them to remain calm, assuring them that security agents would be deployed in the area to restore peace, adding they the culprits would be arrested.
Buhari on Tuesday lamented the wanton killings being witnessed in parts of the country lately, saying Nigerians had lost value for human life.
He therefore directed security and law enforcement agencies to rise to the occasion and end what he called “this blight on the image of the country.”
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