According to him, military personnel who were stationed at his village in Ogwule, a few meters away, responded to the distress call but two of the soldiers were killed by the suspected herdsmen, along with the Eguma village head and six others, bringing the casualty figures to nine.
He said that the attack was the fourth on Eguma and Ogwule villages of Agatu LGA in the last one month, stating that the people face security threats daily.
He explained that the military intervention led to a gun battle with the suspected herdsmen who fled after nine persons, including two soldiers, were killed.
Also speaking, a former Senior Special Assistant to former Governor Samuel Ortom who hailed from Agatu LGA, Mr Olikita, said the herders stormed the Communities on Tuesday afternoon and killed six inhabitants of the community.
The entire Egwuma community has been deserted; there is nobody left behind again, except for the few soliders that are remaining there.
“The caretaker committee chairman of Agatu LGC has drawn the attention of the State government to this situation and we are still waiting for them to do the needful so as to avert further attacks.
“The herdsmen have before now attacked this same community in the past and killed 12 people before soldiers were drafted to the area. I don’t know why they still come to attack our people even with the presence of armed soliders.
“This is a terrible situation, we need more presence of armed security personnel in the community. Nobody knows the mission of these invaders”, Olikita said.
When contacted the Spokesperson of the Benue State Police Command, SP Catherine Anene , said the Command was yet to receive any information about the killings.