Bandits kill retired warrant officer, five others in Benue

Benue map

No fewer than six people, including a retired Nigerian Army warrant officer and a former councillor, have been killed by bandits in a series of attacks on communities in the Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State.

The killings occurred between Sunday and the early hours of Tuesday.

The retired warrant officer was reportedly shot dead at Asa 2 community in Otukpo on Sunday, the same day two other persons were attacked along the Otobi–Akpam Road.

In a related incident, a woman and a child were abducted by the assailants.

In the early hours of Tuesday, January 13, suspected armed herders again struck Otobi-Akpa community, killing five people, including a former councillor and Peoples Democratic Party House of Assembly candidate in 2019, Ochi Ugbabe, .

The other victims were identified as Achibi Onah, Eje Eba and Sunday Iruja, while one victim was yet to be identified as of press time.

The Chairman of Otukpo Local Government Area, Maxwell Ogri, who confirmed the attacks to journalists on Tuesday, described the assailants as bandits masquerading as herders. Punch