Rita Odafe
Agnes Apande, a 28-year-old widow from Tse Agbande in Keana Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, was left in shock and disbelief last Saturday when her husband was brutally killed by herdsmen. She had been watching a movie in her room with her one-year-old son when the attackers arrived at their compound. The late Matthew Apande was reportedly murdered with machete cuts in his neck and other parts of his body. Agnes said that the suspected herdsmen, numbering about nine, had stormed the village on motorcycles at about 10pm and started shooting indiscriminately. She watched in horror as they switched off the generator and shot her husband in the stomach, killing him instantly. They then collected his phone and torch before moving to the neighbouring village and killing five more people.
Agnes believes that her husband’s death was in retaliation for his complaints to Fulani leaders after some of their cattle ate up the soya beans he was harvesting. She expressed frustration that her husband’s killers were still using his mobile phone and appealed to security agencies to apprehend the culprits and bring them to justice. Even the most callous of monsters would pity Agnes’ condition as she sat dejectedly, staring into an empty space as if her stare could change the situation she was in and bring back her husband.
Agnes said: “We want the herdsmen to be arrested. We want the government to help us. Our child is still very small. He is just one year old and there is nothing I have to train him. My husband’s death is a tough one to take because it has caused me much pain. He did not enjoy the fruits of his labour. He was already preparing for new season but they did not allow him to finish it. There is no day I don’t feel loneliness inside me.” Her trauma is compounded by the gloomy prospect of raising their little boy all alone.
Igbadoo Agune, one of Agnes’ neighbours, who escaped the attack because his house was not searched by the invaders, described Apande’s death as a shock. He said he was devastated by the sight of Apande’s lifeless body after the herdsmen had left.
