The Chairman of Agatu Local Government Council in Benue State, Ambassador James Melvin Ejeh, has raised the alarm over the alleged influx of terrorists fleeing recent military airstrikes in Sokoto State into Agatu communities, Peak Newspaper reports.
In a statement issued on Friday in Makurdi, Ejeh said the local government area was witnessing renewed violent attacks, which he described as a fallout of airstrikes carried out by United States forces in collaboration with Nigerian security agencies against terrorist hideouts in Sokoto in December.
“Agatu Local Government Area is presently experiencing a renewed wave of violent attacks, which we firmly believe is a fallout of recent military airstrikes in the Sokoto axis,” he said.
According to him, armed elements fleeing neighbouring areas had infiltrated Agatu communities, leading to killings, injuries, cases of rape, destruction of homes and farmlands, and the displacement of hundreds of residents.
Ejeh, who is also the Benue State Deputy Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), described the situation as a growing humanitarian and security crisis requiring urgent intervention.
He announced the immediate revocation of a 2017 agreement that granted herdsmen access to Adepati Island for grazing, declaring it “null and void,” and ordered all armed herders to vacate Agatu land with immediate effect.
“No portion of Agatu land belongs to herders under any guise,” he said, stressing that Agatu is an agrarian community whose farmlands must be protected.
The council chairman called on the Federal Government and security agencies to deploy reinforced military and police presence in the area, noting that existing security measures were inadequate.
He commended Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia and security agencies for ongoing operations, adding that arrests had already been made and investigations were ongoing.
“No individual found aiding or abetting insecurity in Agatu will be shielded,” Ejeh warned.
