On Tuesday, men believed to be herdsmen killed two soldiers and seven villagers in Eguma, a community in the Agatu area of Benue State.
Audu Sule, who used to be a lawmaker for this area from 2011 to 2019, said the herdsmen came to Eguma at 3:00 pm and started hurting people.
He said some soldiers were nearby in a village called Ogwule, just a short distance away. They came quickly to help, but in the fight, two soldiers and seven villagers, including the leader of Eguma, lost their lives. That makes nine people killed in total.
The ex-lawmaker said this was the fourth time in a month that Eguma and Ogwule villages had been attacked. He said people were very scared and worried about their safety.
He explained that when the soldiers tried to protect the villagers, there was a gunfight with the herdsmen. The attackers ran away after the fight, leaving nine people dead.
The spokesperson for the State Police, Sewuese Anene, said they had not yet received any official information about the killings or any news from the military about the attacks in Agatu.