Herdsmen attack Benue Community, kill five persons, injure others
By Idun Maximus
Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen militia have attacked Entekpa Ward of Adoka-Icho in Otukpo Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State, killing five persons and injuring many others.
The Ward head of Entekpa, Chief Oliver Inalegwu, who raised an alarm told newsmen in a message that the attackers killed five people and sacked the entire village in an attack that took place on Monday evening, February 9, 2026.
He said, “The village is empty now, nobody there. We went there with the council chairman this morning, Tuesday, February 10, 2026 and it was bloody everywhere. It was herdsmen who attacked the village yesterday.”
The Chairman of Otukpo LGA, Maxwell Ogiri has confirmed the incident saying five persons were killed on the spot.
Ogiri who spoke to our correspondent on phone noted that he had gone to the scene of the incident to ascertain the level of damage and ensure that the displaced persons were given assistance.
The chairman narrated that “Yesterday, the villagers got information that there were suspected strangers in their community and then began to alert one another. Initially, it was not just strangers. It was strangers and many cattle. So, after some time, they discovered that the issue of the cattle was just a decoy to push their attention towards where the cattle were.
“After a while, they discovered that while the cattle were coming from one direction, the attackers came from another direction. While the cattle were coming from another direction, the attackers had already gone up hanging on the trees, waiting for the direction before they can strike on the community.
“And they did a lot of damages. Instantly, five persons were killed. There were others with different degrees of gun wounds. They are in different hospitals. They also burnt a house which was their first point of attack, and then they began to shoot sporadically at anybody they see.”
Ogiri who noted that the military have moved in said, “they went on a first-hand assessment of the damages. While I was leaving there, the military were moving in there in droves.”
He noted that the state government has mobilized its civil protection guards and locals but lamented that the locals are ill-equipped with nothing to defend themselves.
“This is the situation we found ourselves. There was no need for that provocation. There was no prior crisis and they were not expecting that a reprisal was going to come in this situation. So far, there is a lot of humanitarian crises. The displaced people are enormous. So many villagers were sacked from their habitats. They are much.
“They are currently taking refuge in Adoka-Icho. We have a culture where we don’t stay in the IDP camp. Our people are not used to a camp. Rather, they scatter among relatives, families, and among other persons in the communities.”
The Chairman appealed for assistance for his people saying “for the moment, the Deputy Governor, Sam Ode has assured me that relief material will be provided for those who are displaced while the police are making efforts to send more troops to curtail the situation.”
As at press time, the Police in Benue were yet to issue an official statement concerning the attack.
