At least eight people were reportedly killed by suspected cultists around Aliade Street, Makurdi, the capital city of Benue State.
A resident of the area, who spoke on a condition of anonymity, told PUNCH Online on Monday that the incident happened in the early hours of the day.
According to the resident, “Some people invaded the street around 2 am today (Monday) and attacked some people living in one of the houses along the street and killed eight people.”
Shedding light on the incident, the Chairman of Makurdi Local Government Area, Joseph Keffi, said some young men rode on motorcycles on the street between 2 am and 2:30 am on Monday.
He added that the young men, on getting to Aliade Street, went into a particular compound, saw four persons sleeping, woke them up and shot them.
He added that four others who heard the gunshots came out to see what was happening and were also shot dead.
Keffi said, “It is quite ugly and pathetic. The incident happened between 2 am and 2:30 am today, and it was cult-related.
“What I heard is that a cult member from North Bank had a clash with his mates and ran down to stay with his friend at High Level. Unfortunately, his friends and relatives who were killed were not cult members, but because they accommodated the boy, they killed them.
“I have reported the incident to all the security agencies, and they assured me that they would apprehend all the perpetrators.”
The chairman said the people had identified one of the leaders of the cult group who had been terrorising Makurdi and its environs for a while.
“He comes in, strikes and leaves. Right now, he is not in the state. The day he comes again, he will kill not less than 10 people and leave. We do not know how he escapes.
“This is someone who was once apprehended by the police and released. We just hope that the police will do due diligence and get him arrested,” Keffi said.
The council chairman, who commended security agents for their prompt response, said the area had been cordoned off and added that security operatives were on the trail of the assailants.
Our correspondent gathered that the corpses of the deceased had been deposited in the morgues of the Benue State University Teaching Hospital and a private hospital in Makurdi.
When contacted, the Commissioner of Police, Ifeanyi Emenari, who confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with our correspondent, said the casualty figure was lower than the reported eight.
“The PPRO will issue a statement on the cult-related incident later today, but going by our record, the casualty figure was not up to eight,” CP Emenari said.