Tensions escalated in Apa Local Government Area of Benue State on Tuesday as women and youths took to the streets, blocking the Otukpo-Abuja highway to protest the wave of deadly attacks terrorizing their communities.
The demonstrators, led by the group “Voice of the Hopeless Women,” demanded urgent government action to halt the killings attributed to suspected Fulani herdsmen.
In a letter titled “Notification of a Peaceful Demonstration,” addressed to local authorities, the group expressed deep sorrow and outrage over what they described as targeted and relentless violence against their families, homes, and farmlands.
The letter—signed by grieving women of Apa and endorsed by the Hunter Group, Apa Chapter—was sent to the Chairman of Apa LGA, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Civil Defence, Volunteer Guard, and traditional and religious leaders.
“We have been traumatized by their invasion of our farms, homes, and rooms, where they kill and destroy our children, husbands, and loved ones, including women,” the letter reads in part.
“Today, our children can hardly attend school; our lives are in constant danger, and our future hangs in the balance.”
The demonstration follows a recent brutal attack on Sunday in Ankpali Edikwu, also in Apa LGA, where armed men reportedly stormed homes in broad daylight and killed residents in a savage and deliberate assault.
Eyewitnesses say victims were not caught in crossfire but were deliberately hunted down inside their own houses, a disturbing pattern increasingly reported in the region.
Reports indicate that protests are ongoing across the LGA, even as fresh gunshots were heard in Odugbo early Tuesday morning.
One protester, who asked to remain anonymous, expressed frustration over the perceived silence from state and federal authorities, which many locals believe has emboldened the attackers.
“Even in the North East, where Boko Haram operates, they don’t go into homes to slaughter people like animals,” she said.
“But in Ankpali and other parts of Apa, Fulani herdsmen are going house to house, mercilessly butchering people in the most dehumanizing ways.”