Fulani herdsmen have struck Benue again, killing two relatives of the Benue State governor Samuel Ortom at the weekend.
The victims included a male and a female who were returning from a burial along Iordye- Gbajimba road in Guma Local Government Area of the state.
They were said to be riding on a motorcycle when the herdsmen ambushed and shot them dead.
According to eye-witnesses, they both died on the spot from gunshot wounds.
Soldiers attached to Operation Whirl Stroke recovered the bodies and deposited the corpses at Gbajimba General Hospital.
Killing by Fulani herdsmen have been the plight of Benue indigenes over the years.
In another development eight persons were abducted last Saturday in the Southern parts of Guma area but were later rescued by troops of Operation Whirl Stroke.
Some of the locals who hail from Agasha town in Guma loccal Government area were kidnapped on their farms by suspected herdsmen forth night ago.
A source who pleaded anonymity said the victims spent almost four days in captivity before being rescued by military personnel.
Reacting on the development special Adviser on Security to the Governor, Lt.Col.Paul Hemba Rtd. disclosed that the success of the operation was made possible by gallant troops of Whirl Stroke who made contact with the kidnappers at Gbekyor which led to an exchange of gunfire with the perpetrators and subsequently they were overpowered.
He maintained that the superior fire power on the part of soldiers overwhelmed the kidnappers who fled in disarray, leaving behind the kidnapped victims.
Those rescued by the soldiers include Philip Akpage, 56yr-old, Aondokula Ijah, 30; Mrs Kwadoo Takada, 60; Mrs Kwakuma Asongu, 55; Mrs Agnes Ornguze, 54; Mrs Yanguchan Tiv, 45; Mrs Kwadoo Mtomga, 45 and Mrs Mnembe Terlumum, 30.
The rescued victims have been reunited with their families.