A mother-of-two, Mrs Joy Terna, has narrated how herdsmen attacked her community, Giza in the Tiv-speaking part of Nasarawa State and chopped off her right hand.
The 24-year-old, who is now breastfeeding her five-month-old baby, said she was four-months pregnant when the herdsmen attacked the community, killed many people and injured others, including herself.
She spoke to Vanguard at the Abegena IDP camp in the outskirts of Makurdi, Benue State capital, where she is presently taking refuge.
She said:
Armed herdsmen chased us out of Giza, our community in Nasarawa State. They came one early morning in January, shooting, killing and burning our houses, huts and farmlands.
Many of our people, including my neighbours, were killed in that attack but many others managed to escape. At that time I was four months pregnant. Everybody ran, including my parents and siblings.
I tried to escape with my three year-old-boy but we were not lucky. They caught up with us. I begged that I was pregnant and that was why I could not run.
The one who caught me wanted to shoot me and my son, but I think he later changed his mind. They held me and continued to burn our houses and looting all the food and property of our people that they saw in our barn.
After that they turned to me and my child. One of them later suggested that they should spare us. He actually said he knew my family, that we were peaceful. I think they started having an argument on what to do with me and my child. The one who told them that he knew my family pleaded with others to spare my son.
They agreed and he took the boy away from the armed men. He was the one that saved my son and brought him later on motorbike to where our people were taking refuge and my father picked him up.
After that, they contemplated what to do with me. They finally agreed not to kill me but all I could remember was that one of them threw me to the ground and chopped off my right with a cutlass and went away with it.
I bled profusely and crying for help but help was not forthcoming. They left me in a pool of blood of my own blood; I concluded that I was going to die. I was there in the village alone and finally passed out.
I woke up in Shandam Hospital in Nasawara State where I was told that it was the police that later came to our community and took me to the hospital where doctors battled to save my life. After my survival and treatment, I was discharged and brought to the camp where our people are currently taking refuge.
At the moment, all members of my family are here in Abagena but my husband lives in Benin. As we speak, nobody lives in my community. All the houses there have been razed and some who made attempts to return were either killed or chased away by armed herdsmen.
It is here in this camp that I gave birth to my baby on May 13 with the help of those who provide us medical care.
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