Gunmen have assassinated an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain in Otukpo Local Council of Benue State, Ejeh Udeh. The incident occurred at midnight in Ugboju, Otukpo, when the suspected killers, who arrived on a motorcycle, positioned themselves within the deceased’s compound.
An eyewitness, who identified himself simply as Sunny, said the attackers waited for Udeh to return home and opened fire on him at close range. “As soon as the man drove in that late hour, the people shot him at close range several times and ensured that he was breathless before they zoomed off,” he recounted.
Chairman of Otukpo Local Council, Maxwell Ogiri, confirmed the assassination and disclosed that security operatives had commenced investigations to identify and apprehend the killers. “We don’t know the reason for his murder. But we can only say that his murderers were determined; they followed him to his house after he came back from a hangout with some friends and associates. He entered his house alone, parked his car, and the gunmen went to his house, and they began to fire from a distance, got closer to him and then finished him off,” he explained.
Efforts to reach the Police Public Relations Officer for Benue State Command, DSP Udeme Edet, were unsuccessful as she did not take her calls at press time.
Meanwhile, the District Head of Birbyang in Birbyang Ward of Kantana Area, Plateau State, Zubairu Usman Garba, has been abducted by gunmen. The abduction took place a week after the village head of Shuwaka in Kyaram District, Garga Area, was killed by kidnappers after the payment of millions in ransom.
Confirming the incident in a statement in Jos, community leader Tarus Salim Dugub stated that the people of Jhar Chiefdom were under siege.
At the same time, the Kogi State Government has raised alarm over conspiracy in recurring killings in the West Senatorial District. Security Adviser to the Governor, Jerry Omadara, while speaking at the palace of Egbe on renewed violence in Okun land, said intelligence reports revealed that some local youths were supplying weapons and foodstuffs to bandits in the forests.
According to him, about six or seven youths from Okunland were already under investigation for being on the payroll of hoodlums. He stressed that the government would treat them like the bandits they collaborated with. Omadara alleged that women were also involved in aiding the bandits. “Regrettable, the bandits are now operating with the indigenes of Okunland. The bandits have gotten our women selling soft drinks, bread and other food items. The women supplied them with food items and vital information. There are people in Yagba West who paid the bandits money so that they don’t kidnap them. We will expose such people at the appropriate time because enough is enough. Our youths are already involved; they used their motorcycles to supply them with weapons and ammunition in the bush. The women of these bandits brought ammunition from the far North and gave our youth peanuts to convey the ammunition to their men in the bush of Okun land, which they used to terrorise our people. Imagine, Okun women becoming girlfriends to bandits. Again, our Okun people are becoming too lazy to the extent that it is the Fulani who farm okro, pepper, and maize for us and this is an aberration,” he said.
Reports also indicate that the bandits may have devised means of procuring AK-47 rifles and ammunition by disarming policemen. Checks revealed that in the last week, unidentified gunmen had seized about 10 AK-47 rifles from policemen on patrol in rural areas of Yagba East and Yagba West.
On Sunday, September 21, suspected bandits killed five policemen and took their arms and ammunition. Local sources said that at about 8:00 a.m., armed bandits ambushed officers of the Isanlu Area Police Command while on patrol at Ilafin-Odogbe Road in Yagba East, killing three personnel and stealing their firearms. Later that morning, around 11:30 a.m., another group of bandits waylaid men of the 37 Mobile Police Force attached to Abugi community, killing two inspectors and making away with their rifles loaded with at least 30 rounds of ammunition.
Last week, five security agents, comprising three policemen and two vigilantes, were also attacked and killed in separate ambushes, with their weapons stolen. During the Sunday killings, a civilian passerby, identified as Isah Gilad, was struck by stray bullets. His body, alongside those of the slain officers, was deposited at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja, for autopsy.
The Kogi State Police Command has launched a manhunt for the bandits with a view to bringing them to justice.
As part of measures to restore order, Chairman of Kabba/Bunu Local Council, Zacchaeus Dare Michael, has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew. A statement signed by him in Lokoja directed that the restriction of persons and vehicles would last between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. daily until further notice.
