Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Gunmen suspected to be armed herdsmen launched two coordinated attacks in Benue State on Friday evening, leaving three persons dead, several others injured, and an unknown number of commuters abducted in separate incidents that have thrown local communities into panic. The attacks, which occurred within hours of each other on May 22, 2026, targeted Akpamaju community and a police checkpoint at Ojano along the Otukpo-Enugu Road in Otukpo and Ohimini Local Government Areas, according to the Chairman of Otukpo LGA, Maxwell Ogiri. In the first attack, which took place at about 5:00 p.m., suspected herdsmen stormed a farm in Akpamaju village, killing two men who were tilling the land with a tractor. The victims were identified as Friday Omoha from Ogbadibo LGA and Francis Liambee from Guma LGA, a tractor operator believed to have been hired from Gboko town. A survivor who escaped from the farm told security operatives that the attackers were about 15 in number and armed with AK-47 rifles. While the attackers fled before security forces arrived, the two bodies were recovered and deposited at the University of Health Sciences Teaching Hospital mortuary in Otukpo.
Barely an hour later, while security personnel were still at the mortuary, another distress call came in at about 10:00 p.m. reporting that the Ojano axis of the Enugu Road had been blocked by attackers. According to eyewitness accounts, the armed men emerged from the bush and opened fire on a police checkpoint at Ojano, killing a young man who usually assisted officers in moving the barricade used for vehicle checks. “The young man was shot dead instantly while the policemen on duty fled for their lives,” a source told Vanguard. The gunmen also fired on a commercial bus belonging to a mass transit company marked TMT, injuring several passengers and abducting some others. “Luckily, some of the passengers escaped and ran back towards Otukpo, while those injured were taken to the hospital,” the source said. The damaged vehicle was later moved to the Otukpo Police Station for safekeeping.
Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) personnel, alongside local security forces, responded to the Ojano incident and engaged the attackers in a gun duel. They were able to rescue three passengers from the TMT bus and rush them to the hospital, though one of them later succumbed to his injuries. “We cleared the road and brought three passengers to the hospital but one gave up the ghost,” Ogiri said. Preliminary findings suggest the same group of attackers, about 15 in number, may have carried out both incidents, navigating from Otukpo to the Ojano-Enugu road in Ohimini LGA after fleeing the first scene. “It was two different incidents,” a local source said, “but the attackers appeared to be the same group.” The attacks have further heightened tensions in Benue State, which has been grappling with a persistent cycle of farmer-herder violence for years. In separate but similar attacks earlier in the week, five people were killed and several others abducted in Otukpo and Gwer West LGAs, according to local media reports.
As of press time, no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Security forces have intensified patrols along the Otukpo-Enugu highway and surrounding communities, while local government authorities have urged residents to remain calm and cooperate with security personnel. The injured are receiving treatment at nearby hospitals, and efforts are ongoing to locate and rescue the abducted passengers.
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