Residents of Torkula village in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State are living in palpable fear after Fulani herdsmen ordered them to vacate their ancestral home or face death.
The invincible herdsmen had attacked Tse Ahentse, Iye and Udei communities in Guma on Tuesday and Thursday, killing 13 persons.
The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Ortom, Nathaniel Ikyur, confirmed the threat in a statement while reacting to the Thursday attack.
“Eyewitness account said the Fulani terrorists who had earlier issued a threat to the Tse Torkula community, asking them to leave the village or face dire consequences, came on motorcycles and without any herd of cattle,” Ikyur said.
Torkula is the ancestral home of the late Tor Tiv IV, HRM Alfred Akawe Torkula.
The herdsmen reportedly dispatched two mercenaries to Torkula village on Wednesday and asked the people to vacate the village or be sacked.
“Two of the herders, on Wednesday, rode on motorcycle and stormed our village, Tse Torkula, and issued a threat asking us to leave our village or face dire consequences,” according to a villager who identified himself as Udenyi.
The Chairman of Guma Local Government Area, Caleb Aba, reacted to the threat saying that palpable fear had gripped the people of Tse Torkula village as a result of the threat.