At least nine suspected Fulani herdsmen yesterday stormed Tse Ikyuer, Yandev, Mbagwen in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State and allegedly gang-r*ped a 15-year-old girl and two housewives (names withheld) at gunpoint.
Narrating their ordeal in Markurdi, the sate capital, two of the victims told Vanguard that after beating and r*ping them, the herdsmen also made away with their N60,000 and two phones.
“One of us (the teenage girl) was r*ped repeatedly, after being thoroughly beaten by the herdsmen. At the moment, she is neither able to walk nor talk,” one of the victims said.
Another added: “The men with their leader came to our home in the afternoon and pleaded that we give them water to drink.
“We obliged them, but they noticed the absence of our husbands, and when their leader asked of our husband’s whereabouts, we innocently told him that they travelled but would be back much later.
“After drinking the water, they left, only for about nine of them to come back later in the day, armed with guns and machetes and asked us to lie down and have s*x with them or they will kill everybody.”
Shots were said to have been fired into the air by the men to terrify the women.
“After defiling us, they beat us mercilessly and collected over N60,000 from us and also took away our handsets,” one of the women said sobbing.
The women said that the leader of the gang was well known in the community but he fled from the area with his family and cattle shortly after the incident.
Daniel Ezeala, State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) confirmed the incident, saying investigations into the matter had commenced.
The women had since been taken to an undisclosed hospital in Makurdi for medical attention by the Police.
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