Lawmaker says 22 bodies recovered after attacks on Ukum communities

At least 22 bodies were recovered after armed attackers raided a cluster of communities in the Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State, according to the federal lawmaker representing the Katsina-Ala, Ukum and Logo constituency, Solomon Wombo.

The attacks took place in the early hours of Sunday in settlements within Mbazun Ward, among them Mbaterem, Ayaba, Ikpur, Yina, Aboajio and Ukpen. Wombo said the raids appeared coordinated and premeditated, and that the casualty figure was still being established as families searched for missing relatives. Residents were also injured and others displaced.

Wombo described the killings as unjustifiable and asked security agencies to identify and prosecute those responsible. He appealed to residents of the affected communities to stay calm and to avoid reprisals, arguing that retaliatory violence would only widen the cycle of bloodshed and cost more lives. Ukum lies in the Sankera bloc, an area of northern Benue that has recorded repeated attacks on farming settlements, and where displacement has kept families away from their land for successive planting seasons.