Pictures of rows of dead bodies of villagers freshly murdered by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen have flooded the social media all day.
They are from the latest attack on Shikaan Mbagena Kpav community in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State. A total of 36 residents, including students were murdered.
It was gathered that the assailants stormed the community in the early hours of Thursday, May 27 and slaughtered the victims including some students of the College of Education, Katsina Ala.
The latest development has aggravated the social media, with hundreds of people including celebrities expressing outrage at what they called ethnic cleansing going on silently in Benue State.
The hashtag #BenueUnderAttack has trended all day and is number one on the trends map with over 100,000 tweets at the time of filing this report.
Many are calling on the federal government and security agencies to put an end to killings by marauding herdsmen.
Among the celebrities who have spoken up is Nollywood actress, Kate Henshaw, who said the gory photos emerging from the community had dampened her spirit.
“Much as I am trying to focus on other things.. The images of bodies lain on the floor in huge numbers has dampened my spirit somewhat.. Why does life mean nothing in Nigeria? To our rulers?? Too much bloodshed….too much, God #BenueUnderAttack” she wrote.
“About 36 persons were killed just yesterday in Benue state, there’s serious genocide going on in Benue state. How long will the people suffer this? Insecurity in the state is at its apex. RETWEET AND PASS IT ON, LET THE WORLD KNOW,” a Twitter user wrote.
Another said: “So after eliminating the TIV Tribe, so who’s next? Who is next? Because no one would tell me there is no agenda for coordinated & continuous ethnic cleansing in this country. It’s not just #BenueUnderAttack but #ChristiansUnderAttack I can’t be mincing words with y’all.”
“There is ethnic cleansing going on in Benue State, but we are deafeningly silent. Hundreds are being killed, and thousands are compelled to flee their homes! Benue is under attack!! ”
No official reaction at the time of filing this report. However the governor of the state Sam Ortom recently said he was tired of announcing the killings of his people by herdsmen.
He urged his people to begin to defend themselves with bows and arrows, knives, machetes and spears. Read here.
Interestingly, amidst all this, a tweet came from President Buhari’s official handle at 2:36pm as follows:
“I met with former President Jonathan this morning, on the situation in Mali, where he is ECOWAS Special Envoy & Mediator. I am calling on all actors and stakeholders to come together for the peace, unity and security of Mali. We cannot afford a further escalation of this crisis.”
