Ex-soldier, 2 others shot dead in Benue

A retired Warrant Officer and two other civilians have been reportedly shot dead in separate incidents in Otukpo Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State.

Our correspondent gathered that the ex-soldier was killed at his house in Asa 2, a suburb of Otukpo town while the other two other persons were shot along the Otobi–Akpa Road in Otukpo.

Residents said the incidents, which they blamed on armed invaders, occurred separately on Sunday.

It was also learnt that the gunmen abducted a woman and a child in another separate attack in the same area on Monday.

A resident, who preferred anonymity, told our correspondent that the armed invaders had long been trailing the ex-soldier over his efforts to prevent them from carrying out their activities.

The resident said people are presently worried over the spate of attacks in Otukpo, adding that the residents now live in fear.

Chairman of Otukpo LGA, Maxwell Ogiri, has however blamed the surge on insecurity in his domain to the displacement of bandits in northern axis of the country.

Ogiri told journalists in Makurdi on Tuesday evening that, “The culprits are these gun wielding bandits that have entered into our community after the Christmas celebration.

“And the general opinion in the security circle is that the attacks on them from the North East and part of Middle Belt have pushed some of them to begin to look for a safer heaven and they decided to have our place to stay and in a situation like this they would be looking for survival.

“So they are trying to get people for ransom and see how they can forcefully fill their plates with food and drinks. The attacks of early this morning was because they wanted to get enough food to eat and get some other things.

“They made away with cash, cooked and raw food after killing the four men before the local vigilante came and they ran away.

“Throughout the Christmas period it was a peaceful moment for us and now we entered the new year with this kind of dastardly act.

“The situation now is calm because all the security agencies responded swiftly and the government is reinforcing security much more. so we believe that in a little while we would be able to apprehend the guys and bring normalcy and confidence into the life of our people.”

The Police Public Relations Officer for Benue Command, DSP Udeme Edet, had yet to respond to calls and text messages sent to her phone as of the time of filing this report.

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