Latest on Zakibiam Massacre: “Children, Women Gunned Down; Blood Flowed From Every Corner of Town” [Must Read]

Zaki Biam, a bustling commercial town in Ukum local government area of Benue State, renown for massive production of yam tubers, last Monday, came under the siege of gunmen who, for over three hours, unleashed a bloodbath never witnessed in the history of the state after the military invasion of the town in 2001.

An eyewitness told Sunday Vanguard that the invaders, decked in military camouflage, stormed the town at about 3pm on motorbikes and cars shooting sporadically with a view to killing anything in sight.

While the invasion lasted, there was pandemonium in the town. Traders ran for their lives. Over 40 persons, including women and children, were said to have been killed in cold blood , while many sustained varying degrees of injuries.

The attackers also reportedly razed over 150 houses, shops and huts, thousands of heaps of yam at the renown Zaki Biam International Yam Market while cars, trucks and motorbikes were also not spared.

At the time Sunday Vanguard visited the devastated town, family families were seen fleeing Zaki Biam while the community had become a ghost of itself.

Many of the injured were rushed to hospitals in the town while the dead were deposited in hospitals that were over- stretched.

While the mayhem lasted, Governor Samuel Ortom was in Makurdi, the state capital, holding a meeting with stakeholders on how to find lasting solution to the several bloody clashes rocking Benue.

Soon after the news of the attack filtered into town, Ortom headed to Zaki Biam to assess the damage.

He visited hospitals where victims were receiving treatment and morgues where the dead were deposited. He expressed shock at what he saw.

When he visited Saint Anthony’s Hospital, Zaki Biam, where about 15 bodies of the victims were taken, the facility was over-stretched and mortuary attendants were seen battling to find space for some of corpses in the open.

Several other hospitals in town were also contending with victims of the bloody attack, most of whom were nursing bullet wounds.

One of the victims, a two and half year boy, who was identified as Chichi, had bullet wounds but lost his pregnant mother in the attack. He was rescued by a trader who rushed him to Light of Grace Hospital where he is receiving treatment but in critical condition.

Another victim, Mr. Ogbonaya Anya, a yam seller from the eastern part of the country, who is recuperating at same hospital, recounted what happened.

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