The Benue State government on Tuesday conducted a mass burial for 17 victims of Mbaikyor, Gwer East Local Government Area (LGA)) allegedly killed by armed herders in the state.

Speaking during the burial of the victims of the Anti-Open Grazing Law in Mbaikyor” in Mbalom, Gwer- East, Governor Hyacinth Alia said the solution to the incessant attack on farmers by armed herdsmen was the formation of vigilance groups.

Armed herders had on March 7 attacked the Mbaikyor community and killed 17 persons, including a retired WO2 army officer and a boy.

It was learnt that two out of the 17 farmers were earlier buried because the corpses were fast decomposing, but the remaining 15 were buried on Tuesday.

Represented by his deputy, Sam Ode, Mr Alia condemned the brutal killings of the people in strong terms.

He said the Benue government was committed to the protection of lives and property of all citizens.

The governor further promised to meet with the families of the bereaved after the burial and also prayed against the reoccurrence of such incidents.

Earlier, Elias Audu, a member of the Benue House of Assembly (BNHA) representing Gwer-East State Constituency, regretted that despite the availability of fighter jets in the country to tackle such incidents, security agencies did not live up to their billings.

Mr Audu advised that the relevant security agencies should be reprimanded because they failed to intervene in the crisis using the available fighter jets, adding that the attack lasted over three hours.

He, however, commended Mr Alia for all he had done since the attack, including the Easter distribution relief materials he made available to the victims’ families.

The president of the Masev Development Association (MDA), Vitalis Tarhule, said the government’s primary responsibility was protecting lives and property and appealed to the government to endeavour to protect the people at all times.

Mr Tarhule said similar attacks had occurred in 2014, 2018 and 2024 within the axis, resulting in about 40 deaths.

He stressed the need to establish a security post in Mbaikyor to check the unwholesome activities of armed herders.

(NAN)