{"id":124988,"date":"2024-07-20T22:48:18","date_gmt":"2024-07-20T21:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/gunmen-defy-curfew-kill-18-in-fresh-benue-attack"},"modified":"2024-07-20T23:59:27","modified_gmt":"2024-07-20T22:59:27","slug":"gunmen-defy-curfew-kill-18-in-fresh-benue-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/gunmen-defy-curfew-kill-18-in-fresh-benue-attack","title":{"rendered":"Gunmen defy curfew, kill 18 in fresh Benue attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Gunmen suspected to be bandits invaded Mbacher community in Mbacher Council Ward, Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State on Friday night, killing 18 people.<\/p>\n

Sources from the local government told our correspondent that the attack took place around 11:00 pm, despite the curfew imposed by the state government.<\/p>\n

The bandits were said to have gathered the villagers under the pretense of addressing them before opening fire.<\/p>\n

Recall that the Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, had two weeks ago imposed a 6:00 pm to 6:00 am curfew in the Sankera axis following a violent protest in Ukum LGA. The Sankera axis, comprising Katsina-Ala, Ukum, and Logo, has been a hotspot for criminal activities in the state.<\/p>\n

The source further disclosed that 18 bodies were recovered by the military on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

Confirming the incident, the Chairman of Katsina-Ala LGA, Justine Shaku, said the bandits had completed their attack before the military could arrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt about 11:00 pm yesterday (Friday), we received a distress call from the villagers that a group of terrorists were moving from house to house, forcing people to follow them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI quickly mobilized the military officers in Tor Doonga, but due to the remote location, the attack was over by the time they arrived,\u201d Shaku stated.<\/p>\n

Shaku also mentioned that several people were wounded during the attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was told it was 17, but today 18 people have been confirmed dead. All of them were assembled in one place and killed,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The council chairman described the activities of the gunmen as \u201clocal terrorism\u201d, noting that their tactics resemble guerrilla warfare.<\/p>\n

\u201cI no longer call them bandits because I\u2019m seeing elements of terrorism in their activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are terrorists within, though they have external forces aiding them. The locals are the major perpetrators,\u201d Shaku added.<\/p>\n

Efforts to reach the Police Public Relations Officer, Catherine Anene, were unsuccessful as her phone rang out.<\/p>\n

However, the Special Adviser on Security and Internal Affairs to Governor Hyacinth Alia, Joseph Har, confirmed the incident.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria Follow Africa-Press<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. Gunmen suspected to be bandits invaded Mbacher community in Mbacher Council Ward, Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State on Friday night, killing 18 people. Sources from the local government told our correspondent that the attack took place around 11:00 pm, despite the curfew imposed by the state government. The bandits were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":124987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,29,14],"tags":[331,190,254],"class_list":["post-124988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-benue","tag-gunmen","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"\nGunmen defy curfew, kill 18 in fresh Benue attack - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gunmen suspected to be bandits invaded Mbacher community in Mbacher Council Ward, Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of B ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/gunmen-defy-curfew-kill-18-in-fresh-benue-attack\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gunmen defy curfew, kill 18 in fresh Benue attack\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gunmen suspected to be bandits invaded Mbacher community in Mbacher Council Ward, Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of B ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/gunmen-defy-curfew-kill-18-in-fresh-benue-attack\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-20T21:48:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-20T22:59:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2024\/07\/sm_1721503413.610334.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/gunmen-defy-curfew-kill-18-in-fresh-benue-attack#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/gunmen-defy-curfew-kill-18-in-fresh-benue-attack\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Gunmen defy curfew, kill 18 in fresh Benue attack\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-20T21:48:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-20T22:59:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/gunmen-defy-curfew-kill-18-in-fresh-benue-attack\"},\"wordCount\":349,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/gunmen-defy-curfew-kill-18-in-fresh-benue-attack#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2024\/07\/sm_1721503413.610334.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Benue\",\"Gunmen\",\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/gunmen-defy-curfew-kill-18-in-fresh-benue-attack#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/gunmen-defy-curfew-kill-18-in-fresh-benue-attack\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/gunmen-defy-curfew-kill-18-in-fresh-benue-attack\",\"name\":\"Gunmen defy curfew, kill 18 in fresh Benue attack - 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