Gunmen killed a retired Nigerian Army officer and two others while they abducted a mother and her infant child in Otukpo over the weekend, heightening fears amid a surge of violence in the region.
Suspected armed herders stormed the Asa 2 area on Sunday and shot dead the former Master Warrant Officer, identified as Anyebe, in his home.
In connected incidents along the Otobi-Akpa Road and nearby communities, attackers struck travelers and residents, killing two more people before kidnapping the woman and her baby from the Obaganya/Asa vicinity.
No ransom demands have surfaced yet, leaving families in anguish.
Community leaders describe the assaults as part of relentless retaliation against Benue’s open grazing ban.
Residents report widespread panic: families flee into bushes, homes face looting, and some individuals remain missing.
Meddy Olotu, a local leader, warns that Otukpo “is boiling” and demands immediate action to avert total chaos.
The violence escalates rapidly.
Just a day earlier, gunmen ambushed a Benue Links bus near Burnt Bricks, injuring three passengers.
On Tuesday morning, another raid on Otobi community claimed four to five lives—including former PDP House of Assembly candidate Igbabe Ochi—while assailants looted shops for food, possibly to supply kidnapped victims hidden in forests.
State lawmaker Kennedy Angbo condemns the unbearable situation and urges security forces to ramp up intelligence operations and troop deployments.
“Five of my people died again at Otobi,” he states, linking the killings to repeated attacks on his constituency.
Benue Police have confirmed some incidents but offer limited details so far.
The state command deploys patrols, yet spokespersons remain silent on specifics for the Asa and Otobi events.
These attacks underscore Nigeria’s persistent farmer-herder tensions in the Middle Belt, where civilians bear the heaviest toll.
Residents and leaders now call for swift federal intervention to restore safety and protect vulnerable families before more lives vanish into the night.
