Gunmen kill mother, son, 2 others in Benue communities

At least four people, including a mother and her son, have been killed in separate attacks by armed invaders in two Local Government Areas of Benue State over the weekend. Our correspondent reports that in one of the incidents, Mlumun Iorhen Igbawua and her son, Terkimbir Iorhen Igbawua, were hacked to death on Saturday while […]

At least four people, including a mother and her son, have been killed in separate attacks by armed invaders in two Local Government Areas of Benue State over the weekend.

Our correspondent reports that in one of the incidents, Mlumun Iorhen Igbawua and her son, Terkimbir Iorhen Igbawua, were hacked to death on Saturday while working on their rice farm at Tse-Nyibiam, near Ngban in Nyiev Council Ward of Guma LGA.

The other two were also killed by armed invaders at Mbatyula Council Ward of Katsina-Ala LGA.

A former government official who hails from Guma, Jimin Geoffrey, said the killings of the mother and her son occurred on the same farmland where the victims’ husband and father, Benjamin Iorhen Igbawua, was murdered in May this year.

He disclosed that the body of deceased’s husband also killed by armed invaders still lies in the morgue, unburied when the incident of his wife and only son happened on Saturday while they were weeding grasses on their rice farm.

Geoffrey further disclosed that Terkimbir’s wife, who was declared missing during the attack, survived after enduring severe torture in the hands of the killers and has since reunited with her family.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of Guma LGA, Maurice Orwough, was said to have visited the scene where the mother and her son were killed and afterwards, took the wife of the deceased tortured by the assailants to hospital for treatment.

Orwough was said to have directed the local government security secretary to release funds for the burial of the victims on Sunday.

Similarly, in Mbatyula Council Ward of Katsina-Ala LGA, armed invaders carried out fresh attacks on July 31 and August 1, 2025, killing two residents – John Tsebo in Anchaha community and Agber Solomon in Agu Center.

A resident of the area who preferred anonymity told our correspondent in Makurdi that the attacks have heightened fears in the community, wondering the continued security neglect despite a presidential directive to end violence in the state.

“We have lived at the mercy of the armed herders for six years. They kill and destroy our crops at will. We are practically farming for their cows,” the resident lamented.

However, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for Benue Command, DSP Udeme Edet, did not respond to calls or messages put through her telephone up till the time of filling this report.