The Benue Police Command says nine persons were killed on Monday in a communal clash in Awe, a Benue/Nasarawa border town.
The command’s Spokesman, DSP Daniel Ezeala, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Makurdi.
Ezeala said that the deceased had been deposited at the Gbajimba General Hospital, Guma, Benue.
He said that the command was yet to ascertain the cause of the clash, adding that no formal complaint had been made to any security agency on the clash.
He said that the police swung into action and recovered the bodies following a widespread rumour on the killing.
Ezeala gave the assurance that the situation was under control, and appealed to the people to go about their businesses without fear of molestation.
The Chairman of Guma Local Government, Mr Usa Adi, said that the assailants razed down three villages in Njorov district of Guma.
Adi said that many of the residents of the affected villages, who fled to neighbouring villages for safety, had yet to return.
He appealed to security agencies, especially soldiers drafted to Guma, to forestall further breakdown of law and order.
Adi accused the villages on the Nassarawa/Benue border of harbouring armed bandits responsible for the recurring clash.
The chairman appealed to the government of the two states to fish out the killers.
