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Two herders killed in Kogi reprisal

By Ralph Agbana (Lokoja), Joseph Wantu (Makurdi) and Njadvara Musa (Maiduguri)
01 April 2020   |   4:05 am
Two herdsmen have been killed in Yagba area of Kogi State in what is believed to be a reprisal attack. Their lifeless bodies were found in a bush between Imela and Ogbom communities in Yagba East Council on Sunday evening.

• Four docked in Benue for contravening grazing law
• Coronavirus deadlier than Boko Haram terrorism, says Zulum

Two herdsmen have been killed in Yagba area of Kogi State in what is believed to be a reprisal attack. Their lifeless bodies were found in a bush between Imela and Ogbom communities in Yagba East Council on Sunday evening.

The killing followed reported attack on an Ogbom indigene on Saturday night by suspected Fulani herdsmen after dispossessing him of his cash while he was returning from Imela to his village.

Identified as Lekan, the victim who suffered severe head injuries from machete cuts, was said to have been moved to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of ECWA Hospital, Egbe in Yagba.

In the same vein, the police in Benue State have arraigned three herdsmen for violating the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of the state.

When the case came up at the Chief Magistrate Court, Makurdi, the Prosecuting officer, ASP Hyacinth Gbakor, told the court that on March 27, 2020, the Benue State Livestock Guards arrested Adamu Ibrahim, Abubakar Usman and Salah Landi with their cows grazing in Ogobia Village, Otukpo Council of Benue, thereby contravening section 19(2) of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, 2017.

When the charges were read to them, the three suspects pleaded not guilty to the charge, saying the cows had gone before they were arrested, claiming that they were in the bush eating wild honey.

Their counsel, Bello Abdusalam, applied for the bail. Another herder, Bahago Ahmadu of Gishiri Village, Ibi Council of Taraba State, was arrested in Ogobia, Otukpo Council of Benue for open grazing. He pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The magistrate, Isaac Ajim, granted the four suspects bail of N500,000 each with one surety in like sum, who must be resident in Makurdi with a verifiable address.He adjourned both cases till April 7, 2020.

Meanwhile, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum has said that the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) is deadlier than the decade-long Boko Haram terrorism that claimed many lives and property in the country.

Zulum in a state-wide broadcast on Monday in Maiduguri, declared: “The Coronavirus pandemic was another trying and most difficult period in the state,” which requires “pragmatic and preventive” measures to fight.

He said, “This time, we are faced with a more sinister and more deadly threat as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been exponentially spreading across the world, with no cure or curative treatment.

“The best way to avert this virus is to initiate and implement pragmatic and workable preventive measures and containment strategies.”

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