Benue News: 4 People Allegedly Killed In Fresh Communal Clash

Four people have been allegedly killed in a clash between Okpudu and Ollo communities of Okpowku local government area of Benue State.

Naija News gathered that the crisis resulted from a misunderstanding between some youths in the two communities.

Sources said that it escalated last Sunday following the abduction of two Okpudu youths by their Ollo counterparts. A source said that at 5 pm last Sunday, some Ollo youths who were dressed in military uniforms and armed with guns stormed Okpudu on motorcycles and ordered two youths in the area to follow them.

According to him, when the two Okpudu youths were not seen after 24 hours, their colleagues mobilised and stormed Ollo community to demand their release.

“In the process, four persons were reportedly killed while some others were injured as sounds of gunshots resonated all around the community, a development which forced the residents to abandon the area,” he said.

Other sources claimed that the youths stormed Ollo community because a similar incident happened a few years ago when two youths of the village who were abducted by Ollo youths, were later killed and buried in a shallow grave.

However, a few hours after Okpudu youths invaded Ollo, the abducted youths were released with wounds inflicted on them.

Naija News learnt that the two warring communities were fleeing the area as vigilantes allegedly took over the major roads leading to the two areas to forestall reprisals.

The police public relations officer, Mrs. Catherine Anene, who refuted the alleged killing, explained that the problem started when a woman married to one of the warring communities ran back to her family but the youths in the area mobilised there to bring her back. This, she said, angered her family who went to the other community and abducted some persons, a situation that provoked the villagers.