The survivor, Nyeshilea narrated how she accompanied her two sisters aged 15 and 18 to fetch firewood at Zongo village in Mabala Council Ward of Makurdi five days ago.
"While in the bush, we met the suspect, a Fulani herdsman who asked if we saw any man passing by. "We told him that we did not see anybody, he then asked us to follow him. We were forced to follow him out of fear, we trekked with him to a point where we saw another two of his colleagues. That was where they all asked us to lie down. But we were scared.
"They eventually forced my two sisters down and two of the men raped them, but they did not rape me. After raping them, they started cutting them with their knives until they killed them. At that point, I started running and shouting for help, but one of them came after me and cut me with a knife and I fell down.
"I passed out for sometime and in my pool of blood, they thought I was dead, but luckily, when they left, I gathered myself and managed to escape back to the village. That was how I found myself at the hospital."
Narrating his side of the story, Adamu said, "I was in the bush grazing my cow when a Tiv man approached me claiming that I damaged his farm. I told him I was not the one and he insisted I was the one. In the midst of the argument and confusion, my herds scattered in the bush. I started chasing after them in order to gather them. On my way, I met three girls whom I asked if they knew the man that was accusing me of destroying his farm and they said yes.
"They, however, refused to disclose the man's residence, claiming that they did not know his house. The eldest amongst the girls started insulting me and she came and held my cutlass.
I told her to get off my cutlass. She continued pulling the cutlass. The second one came and started taunting me and pulling my dagger and in the process, the knife cut her hand.
"I withdrew from them and asked if they can face me and they said yes. That was why I pulled out my knife and cut the eldest. The other one that had a cut on her hand ran and moved away and was watching from a distance, but I also caught up with her and cut her down. I also did the same thing to the third."
Adamu however denied raping the girls.
"No other Fulani herdsman was there, I did it alone. I swear that I did not rape them. They pushed me into what I did because I was pleading and asking that they left me alone. I feel very sorry for what I did, because it is a crime. I was actually under the influence of Tramol 200. I normally buy the tablet from one Tiv man in the village. I take it to feel high and for energy because whenever I take it, I hardly get tired of moving about with my cow."
When asked of his parents, Adamu said he was told that shortly after his birth, his father died and his mother whom he hardly knew gave him out to one Alhaji Kawo Ibrahim who brought him up as a herdsman.
"We reside here in Benue near Agatu, that is where some of us move our cow for grazing," he said.
Reacting to the incidence, Benue State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hyacinth Dagala, expressed deep shock over the killing adding, "I feel bad about this because it is absurd and unfounded for women who are ordinarily non-violent to be killed in such violent manner. I was personally shocked when I heard about the incident and got particularly worried when I discovered the manner these young girls were killed.
"I must point out that though the problem of natives and Fulanis have been with us in the country for several years, government would not be able to address it overnight, but it would certainly be addressed. Some persons are currently agitating that the Fulanis should move to other states, others feel that since they are Nigerians, they should not be restricted. We all hope that this problem will soon be resolved especially, if all the stakeholders are able to harmonise their thoughts and views."
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