Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen on Saturday attacked five farming villages in Benue State, killing six people and burning many houses, the police said on Sunday.
“Five Agatu villages were attacked yesterday (Saturday) by suspected Fulani cattle herdsmen who killed six people,” police spokesman Daniel Ezeala told AFP.
He said “many houses” were razed during the violence, the latest on mainly ethnic Tiv people, who are predominantly farmers.
Local media however said 36 people were killed in the mayhem.
Ezeala said police and other security agencies had been deployed to the trouble spot.
“The situation is now under control as security forces are patrolling the affected villages to ensure there is no resurgence of violence,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the State Security Service, Ekpenyong Ita, said security forces had successfully stopped Boko Haram members from operating in the cities and confined them to the Sambisa Forest in Borno State, where the SSS boss said they were struggling to survive.
Ita attributed the isolation of Boko Haram terrorists in the forest to the use of advanced technologies, stressing that the SSS remained steadfast in its determination to identify and neutralise security threats.
The DG said this during the graduation of the Executive Intelligence Management Course for 47 participants at the Institute for Security Studies, Lower Usuma Dam,Bwari, Abuja on Saturday.
The ceremony had as its theme, ‘Year 2020: The Challenges of Security Sector Synergy in a Democratic Culture.’
Ita said the service would continue to invest in premium technologies and human capacity development for national security.
He stressed the importance of equipping serving and prospective executives of organisations in the public and private sectors with appropriate competences to manage security-related issues effectively.
The SSS boss explained that as part of the human capacity development programme of the agency, 12 staff members would soon attend Harvard University in the United States for further studies, which he said would empower them for leadership roles.
According to Ita, the SSS has in the last three years provided training in various spheres of security for 1,248 participants drawn from critical government organisations and foreign countries.
He said, “This service has therefore placed great premium on the acquisition of advanced technology for its operations through cutting edge know-how in keeping with international best practices. What this has translated to, is the procurement of intelligence products that are more precise, credible, reliable, accurate and faultless.
