Bandits have reportedly killed five people in a renewed attack on Otobi community in Otukpo local government area of Benue State.
One of the victims was identified as Igbabe Ochi, a former House of Assembly candidate for the Otukpo-Akpa State Constituency under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2019 general election.
The attack occurred at about 1.3am on Tuesday and followed an attempted kidnapping on Sunday night at Ekwu-Ora’Odaba in Otobi, which was foiled by the community volunteers’ guards commander, Ocheme Jackson, and his team. The incident had placed the community on high security alert.
Local sources said Otobi has increasingly been targeted by suspected herdsmen, especially after the killing of 13 people on April 15, 2025, and another assault in May 2025 that left three persons dead.
“Following Sunday’s Kidnap attempt, community volunteers guard members with the support of youths in the area, kept patrol and surveillance teams across the community up until 12.00 am on Tuesday morning before retiring to rest,” a source said.
“The surveillance team from the railway crossing into Ijami part of Otobi pulled back to rest, at about 1.30 am, the gunmen, suspected to be herdsmen, stormed the community and started shooting, killing five persons in the process, and looted foodstuff and other valuables.”
Confirming the incident, the president of the Otobi Community Development Association, John Anyebe, said the attackers entered the community through the railway station bridge from the Ijami axis and advanced toward the area where the victims were gathered near the transformer junction.
“Yes, the attack is carried out by suspected herdsmen who have been terrorizing our community, shooting one person close to the water board before heading to where Honourable Igbabe Ochi and four others were seated and open fire on them, looting the stores around for food and other valuables,” Anyebe said.
He lamented the repeated killings in the community, recalling the April 15, 2025 attack that claimed 13 lives, followed by the killing of three other residents at the Omebe axis two weeks later.
As of the time of filing this report, the Benue State Police Command had yet to issue an official response to the incident.
Late Ochi Igbabe, who was killed along with four others.
Efforts to reach the command’s spokesperson, Udeme Edet, were unsuccessful as calls and messages sent to his phone were not returned.
Meanwhile, Kennedy Angbo, the lawmaker representing Otukpo-Akpa state constituency, expressed concern over the recurring attacks while speaking with Channels Television.
He disclosed that on Sunday, gunmen attacked a Benue Links bus around Burnt Bricks, Otukpo, leaving three travellers hospitalised.
“You can imagine that five of my people have been killed again at Otobi community of Akpa district, barely a year after the killing of thirteen persons on April 15th 2025.
“On Sunday at about 7.00 pm, around Burnt bricks, Otukpo, these gunmen opened fire on travellers, injuring three persons, and it was just God protecting them from previous fatality. So I am calling on the security agencies to do more on intelligence gathering and counter operations to flush out these terrorists from our surroundings,” he said.