Some yet to be identified gunmen invaded the palace of a traditional ruler in Ado Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State, yesterday, killing his son and abducted his daughter.
Sources from the area disclosed that the incident happened at about 2am after the gunmen succeeded in gaining access to the premises of the clan head of Ikpomolokpo at Gege ward of the LGA.
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The gunmen were said to have stormed the community and made their way straight to the residence of the clan’s head while shooting sporadically to scare members of the community away.
“After they forced their way into the premises of the clan’s head, they forcefully entered the house and met his son in his room. They were apparently looking for the wife of the traditional ruler,” our source said.
Commenting on the matter, Chairman of the local government, James Oche, who confirmed the incident by telephone, said that he received a distress call from the area early hours of yesterday.
“I was told that some gunmen at about 2am (Monday) entered the home of the clan head of Ipomoloko through the fence and asked for his wife from the son whose name is Thompson.
“I was told that the young man told them that he did not know the whereabouts of his mother and they shot him dead after which they now took his sister away,” the chairman said.
“I immediately alerted troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), but before they could get to the place, the gunmen had escaped to Atiga forest around Okpokwu LGA, Oche said, adding that the troops were still on the trail of the gunmen at the time of this report.
Efforts to get the police to confirm the report failed as the phone number of the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Catherine Anene, was switched off at the time of this report.
Also, no fewer than 15 persons have been killed by suspected armed bandits in two separate attacks launched in Sokoto State.
The State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, made the disclosure yesterday while presenting the 2022 Appropriation Bill to the State House of Assembly.
Tambuwal said the attacks happened between late on Sunday and the early hours of yesterday.
He disclosed that 12 people lost their lives in Illela Local Government Area, while three were killed in Goronyo local government area of the state.
The governor, however, condoled with the families who lost their loved ones in the attacks.
