…four kidnapped as community leader, lawmaker cry out
By Peter Duru, Makurdi
At least five persons, including a former councillor and 2019 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Assembly candidate for Otukpo-Akpa State Constituency, Mr Igbabe Ochi, have been reportedly killed in a midnight attack on the Otobi Akpa community in the Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State.
The victims, four men and one woman, were reportedly murdered in related incidents during the early hours of Tuesday by suspected armed herdsmen, worsening insecurity and heightening tension in the community.
A local source disclosed that the attackers stormed the community at about 1:30am, heading straight to a provision shop where some residents, including Mr Ochi, were.
“They killed four persons at the shop and looted food items, indicating they were searching for food. When residents heard gunshots, youths mobilised to confront them, but the attackers fled into the forest,” the source said.
He added that the area had recently recorded several cases of kidnapping, allegedly carried out by the same armed herders who, according to residents, have refused to vacate Akpa land.
Meanwhile, an Emergency Situation Report issued by the Benue State Civil Protection Guards (BSCPG), Benue South Headquarters, Otukpo, confirmed the attack.
According to the report, armed men suspected to be herdsmen-kidnappers attacked a provision shop in Otobi Akpa around 1:30am, allegedly in search of food for kidnapped victims.
“The suspected herdsmen kidnappers opened fire on residents, killing four people on the spot before looting the shop,” the report stated.
The four victims killed at the shop were identified as Igbabe Ochi, Achibi Onah, Eje Eba, and Sunday Iruja. The attackers reportedly fled into a nearby forest after residents raised the alarm.
The BSCPG said security operatives, including police personnel and civil protection guards, were promptly deployed to the area to prevent further attacks, adding that patrols had been intensified.
The report also confirmed that four persons abducted earlier by the armed men remain in captivity, raising concerns that criminal groups were operating freely from surrounding forests.
Reacting, the President of the Otobi Community Development Association, Mr John Anyebe, said the attackers entered the community through the railway station bridge from the Ijami axis of Otobi.
“They shot one person near the Water Board before proceeding to where Igbabe Ochi and others were. They opened fire on them and looted nearby shops for food and valuables,” Anyebe said.
He lamented the recurring violence in the community, recalling that 13 persons were killed on April 15, 2025, barely two weeks after three others were murdered at the Omebe axis of Otobi.
Similarly, the lawmaker representing Otukpo-Akpa State Constituency, Mr Kennedy Angbo, condemned the persistent attacks, describing the situation as alarming.
“Five of my people have been killed again in Otobi, barely a year after 13 persons were murdered in the same area. Just on Sunday evening, gunmen attacked travellers on a Benue Links bus at Burnt Bricks, Otukpo, injuring three persons,” he said.
Angbo called on security agencies to intensify intelligence gathering and counter-operations to flush out criminal elements from the area.
Efforts to get a reaction from the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Udeme Edet, were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.
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