In the Kupa Kingdom, Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State, gunmen have attacked the Abugi, Kuchinda, and Mikugi communities, killing over five people.

The event happened when a local vigilante group member allegedly killed a herder on suspicion of cattle smuggling.

Following the incident, armed individuals allegedly launched a retaliatory attack, invading the three towns and killing a number of innocent people.

Security services have been called in to restore peace and stop further escalation as a result of the development, which has increased tension in the impacted areas.

The families of those who lost loved ones in the recent retaliatory killings in the Abugi, Kuchinda, and Mikugi communities in Kupa Kingdom, Lokoja Local Government Area, have received condolences from the Kogi State Government, which has assured them that the perpetrators will be found and prosecuted.

The administration characterized the killings as terrible, senseless, and reprehensible in a statement released by Kingsley Fanwo, the Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Communications. It emphasized that no grievance or misunderstanding should lead to the taking of innocent lives.

According to Fanwo, Governor Ahmed Ododo offered the bereaved families and the entire Kupa Kingdom his sincere sympathies and prayed for the deceased's souls to rest in peace and for the comfort of those who remained.

The commissioner clarified that initial reports suggested the incident started after a local vigilante group member allegedly shot and killed an unarmed herder on suspicion of cattle rustling.

He claimed that when the herder was killed, innocent people in the communities of Abugi, Kuchinda, and Mikugi were the target of a retaliatory attack allegedly carried out by armed individuals, which led to several fatalities and increased tension in the area.

Source