Disturbed by the ceaseless attacks by armed herdsmen in their communities, hundreds of women, yesterday protested in Ugbokpo, the headquarters of Apa Local Government Area of Benue State, to demand an end to the killings and destruction in the area.
The placard-bearing women, who trooped out as early as 8am, marched through the streets of Ugbokpo, singing somber songs to express their grief over the loss of innocent lives in the attacks.
The protest followed last Sunday’s bloody incursions on Ijaha, Ibele, Ochekwu and Edikwu Ankpali communities by armed marauders, which reportedly claimed 28 lives and left several others injured.
Some of the protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as: ‘Fulani, stop killing our men’, ‘Apa is our land, not for Fulani’, ‘Apa, a community of widows’, ‘Government has failed us’, ‘Government, come to our aid or we die’, and ‘Fulani must go’, among others.
They came together under the banner of ‘The Voice of the Voiceless Women in Apa’.
In an earlier letter signed by bereaved women of Apa and endorsed by the Hunter Group, Apa Chapter, informing authorities and security agencies of the protest, titled “Notification of a peaceful demonstration,” the group expressed deep pain over the unending attacks on their families, homes, and farmlands by armed herdsmen.
They explained that they took to the streets after herdsmen forcefully entered their farms, homes, and rooms “to kill and destroy our children, husbands, and dear loved ones, including our fellow women. And today, our children can hardly go to school, our lives are in danger, and our future is in shambles.”
One of the protest leaders, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed concern over what she described as the prolonged silence of both the state and federal governments regarding the unrelenting attacks in the area.
She said: “The government’s silence is too golden. Even in the Northeast where Boko Haram operates, they do not go into people’s homes to slaughter them like animals. But in Ankpali and other parts of Apa, the herdsmen go from house to house, butchering people in a dehumanising and cruel manner. The government must rise to its responsibilities and put an end to the gruesome murder of our loved ones.”
