Eight people, including three children, have been killed in a suspected terrorist attack on a rural community in Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State.
The Benue State Commissioner of Police, Cletus Nwadiogbu, confirmed the incident on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
According to the police commissioner, the victims comprised five adults and three children.
Nwadiogbu said he spent most of Sunday in the affected community alongside other security personnel to assess the situation and restore normalcy.
He explained that communication from the area was initially difficult due to poor network coverage.
“We have been in the interior since morning. The network was poor because we were in the bush. Some people were killed, and the youths became violent. We have been engaging them, and they have now agreed to reopen the road. They are only waiting for water tankers to extinguish the fire,” he said.
The commissioner said investigations were ongoing to determine whether the latest attack was linked to previous incidents in the area.
“We cannot say for now whether it is connected to previous attacks or whether the terrorists simply wanted to achieve their aim,” he said.
Describing the incident as a terrorist attack, Nwadiogbu said the assailants employed guerrilla tactics by attacking the community before escaping into nearby forests.
“They operate in the guerrilla warfare style. Once they attack, they immediately disappear into the woods, making it difficult to apprehend them,” he said.
He assured residents that security agencies were intensifying efforts to track down the attackers and prevent further attacks in the area.