By Sam Tyav, Makurdi
Palpable fear has gripped residents of North Bank area of Makurdi, capital of Benue State, North Central Nigeria, following incessant attacks and killings by hoodlums who have reportedly literally taken over the area.
Scared residents recount that in the last one week six persons have been killed by the rampaging hoodlums.
Major areas affected include Federal Housing, Ter Guma street, Day Spring, ECWA secondary school axis, Udei street and Federal Low Cost.
Investigation by People and Politics revealed that many persons have started deserting the area out of fear and were relocating to safer parts of Makurdi as no one knows who the next victim would be.
A traditional ruler, Chief Boniface Tor, who resides in Akpehe, a suburb of Makurdi, said that some of his family members who live in North Bank had informed him that they were presently not sleeping with both eyes closed.
The royal father asserted that North Bank has become a volatile area.
The monarch lamented what he described as the visible absence of security operatives to check the hoodlums’ excesses, explaining that this lapse gave the men of the underworld the confidence and leeway to unleash attacks, injure and kill their victims unchallenged.
We also learned that the hoodlums operate freely both at night and day.
A visit to the area revealed that North Bank was becoming a ghost of its former self.
A nurse with the Federal Ministry of Defence office and who works at NASME Barracks in North Bank, Mrs. Christiana Iveren Tyav, equally lamented the rising volatile nature of the area.
Speaking further, Mrs. Tyav said that the atmosphere of insecurity in the area has affected her work schedule.
Tyav said she no longer runs evening and night shifts conveniently as she sleeps in the barracks at close of work so as not to risk her life in the hands of the hoodlums.
A resident of North Bank, who preferred to speak on condition of anonymity, claimed that some students of Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University and Akawe Torkula Polytechnic, both in the state, had fallen victim to activities of the hoodlums at SRS junction located in North Bank.
According to the source, who knew because of closeness to some of the victims, the students were attacked in the day time and were subsequently dispossessed of their cellphones and cash amounting to a small fortune.
The source said the attackers’ modus operandi was such that they often do not hesitate to even kill should their victim try to struggle with them, insisting that North Bank area “is becoming a different thing.”
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of Benue State Command, Catherine Anene, could not be reached for comment as her numbers were not going through as of press time.
However, a police source said “something impactful is being done to stem the situation in North Bank.”
