9 Fulani herdsmen gang-rape 3 women

No fewer than nine Fulani herdsmen have allegedly raped three women, including two wives and a daughter of a farmer at gunpoint at Tse Ikyuer, Yandev, Mbagwen in Guma Lo­cal Government Area of Benue State.

The rapists were also said to have robbed the women aged between 18 and 20 years, of N60,000 and two GSM handsets. Narrating their ordeals to newsmen in Makurdi yes­terday, two of the raped women said that the leader of the gang, who is now at large, and seven others had visited their house earlier in the day and requested for water to drink, which they obliged him.

The victims said that, in the process of giving him the water, the man, whom they know very well in the community, asked about the whereabouts of their husband and they told him he had travelled out of town.

“We didn’t know he had any ulterior motive. Short­ly after we gave him water, he left and came back later with eight other Fulani wielding guns and shooting sporadically into the air.

“They asked us to co­operate with them or get killed and so, we had no option than to submit our­selves to them while they mercilessly raped us.

“Three of them forc­ibly gang-raped me and would not heed my cry for mercy,” said, one of the women. They said that the leader of the gang, who had been living in their com­munity for some time, fled the area with his family and cattle shortly after the inci­dent.

Two of the women, who could barely walk due to the severe injuries done to their private parts disclosed that the third victim, who was beaten mercilessly and gang- raped by three of the herdsmen could neither walk or talk as at the time of the interview.

It was gathered that the younger victim and daugh­ter of the farmer (names withheld) as well as the other two women had been taken to an undisclosed hospital in Makurdi, the state capital.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Daniel Ezeala, a Su­perintendent of Police, confirmed the incident, disclosing that one of the suspects had been arrested while investigation was on­going.