Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue state has imposed 24 hours curfew on Ukum Local Government Area, LGA, of the state.<\/p>\n
The lockdown followed the Tuesday night attack on on Ayati community in Borikyo Council Ward of the LGA by suspected armed bandits that claimed about 11 lives and left scores with severe injuries.<\/p>\n
The attack sparked angry protests by the youths of the area at Sankera, the headquarters of Ukum LGA, who took over the Sankera -Ayati-Sai road and made bonfires on the highway.<\/p>\n
A source in the area who spoke on condition of anonymity said \u201cThe angry youths who sang war songs matched through the streets to protest the endless attacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey stormed the Ukum Local Government Council Secretariat to confront the Caretaker Chairman and when they did not see him they initially vandalised the building.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd while that was going on another group also vandalised the Legislative House of the LGA and set the buildings on fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we speak there is a total breakdown of law and order in Sankera and people do not feel safe anymore. Business owners have locked up their premises and everyone is fleeing for his or her life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThough Police and military personnel are moving in to quell the protest, the youths are resisting the intervention.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in a bid to check an escalation of the crisis, Governor Hyacinth Alia through his Deputy, Dr. Sam Ode has imposed a 24-hour curfew on the LGA which would run from dusk to dawn after 24 hours.<\/p>\n
In his speech, the Governor drew the attention of the people at home and in the diaspora, and all stakeholders as well as security agencies to the situation saying \u201cThis morning being July 3, 2024, the Government of Benue State was surprised with grave security situation in Ukum LGA of the State which has lead to the breakdown of law and order, leading to wanton destruction of government property and threats to lives.<\/p>\n
The Governor sued for calm assuring that security personnel had been deployed to the LGA and the entire Sankera axis of the state to maintain law and order and to ensure the return of normalcy to that part of the state.<\/p>\n
Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue state has imposed 24 hours curfew on Ukum Local Government Area, LGA, of the state. The lockdown followed the Tuesday night attack on on Ayati…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n