Killing of lawyer, pregnant wife sparks anger in Benue community

Agboughul community in Makurdi metropolis of Benue State was few days ago thrown into mourning following the gruesome killing of three residents by yet to be identified assailants.

The deceased are Moses Udam, a lawyer, his pregnant wife, Nkechi, and a blind octogenarian, Nyikyor Mazugu. Three other victims of the attack who did not die are now in the hospital receiving treatment from gun wounds.

Residents of the community expressed anger over the attack, even as relatives of the deceased wept uncontrollably, alleging that it was carried out by herders.

Properties of the victims were also vandalised by their assailants.

Witnesses said the gunmen struck at 11:20pm on Tuesday and killed their victims who lived at the edge of the community bordering a vast swampy field which stretches to the bank of River Benue.

Udam was said to have been shot at a close range inside his bedroom before his assailants butchered his body into parts, while his wife, pregnant with their first child after seven years of marriage, was raped and massacred in the toilet.

The eldest son of the late octogenarian, Abraham Nyikyor, told our correspondent that the gunmen first attacked the house of the lawyer before invading his father’s compound.

“Immediately they entered my father’s compound, they went straight and shot him on the chest, killing him instantly in his bed. Then they shot two of my siblings who are now receiving treatment in a hospital in Makurdi,’’ he narrated.

Nyikyor, 52, who said he buried his wife last weekend, lamented that the sad incident was too much for him to bear, saying the gunmen carried out the attack within one hour.

He said his 88-year-old father and wounded siblings aged between 10 and 14 were asleep when the gunmen came, while another of his siblings who managed to escape, earlier noticed from a distance that the lawyer’s house was under attack and raised the alarm, which later attracted people to the scene.

Similarly, a relative of the lawyer and his wife, who was seen weeping, disclosed that the younger sister of the late Moses was also shot, but she survived and now in the hospital.

Also, a mourner at the late lawyer’s resident said he (Moses) celebrated his birthday on Tuesday, December 15 and gave thanks to God in church on Sunday before he was killed.

“He was killed on his birthday. So sad. The lawyer was also a pastor in the Gospel Faith Mission Church at Ankpa Quarters in Makurdi. He was a good man and loved by all the people who knew him,’’ the mourner said.

A victim of the attack, Ama Ate, said the gunmen took away his N200,000, which was a loan  for an agric-business, as well as a mobile phone, but he was lucky to have escaped by the whisker.

Ate said that from his hiding place, he heard the gunmen threatening to shoot his daughter if she failed to show them where her father was. He added that after they ransacked the house and saw the money, they went away without harming the girl.

He further narrated that it was the sound of gunshots that woke him from sleep, noting that while his wife went towards the door, it dawned on him that gunmen were in operation in the area. But before he could attempt to lift his two sleeping children from their bed, the assailants broke into his house, forcing him to flee the scene.

An elder sister to the late lawyer’s wife, Amaka Nnaji, told our correspondent amidst tears, “I trained Nkechi from primary school to the college of education in Oju. She lived with me from when she was a child until she got married. How do I live with the reality that someone snuffed life out my younger sister and her husband?” Nnaji asked.

A neighbour to the deceased, Terwase Ungase, said at the time he heard gunshots in the neighbourhood and ran outside his house to find out what was happening, the blind man was already killed.

“I heard gunshots; then one of the children of the blind man escaped and was shouting, herdsmen! We ran out and discovered that Barrister and his wife had been killed in their house while his sister was deeply cut with a machete. They also cut two of the blind man’s children.

This is not the first time the herders would attack this vicinity. Last year, this area was attacked and four people were killed. Barrister was a good man who had no problem with anyone,” Ungase said.

However, there are people in the neighbourhood who believe the incident was an organised assassination targeted at the lawyer and his wife. In their opinion, the incident happened because the legal practitioner was handling a sensitive case, which the court was set to deliver a judgement in the coming days. They believe that those involved in the alleged assassination hired suspected herders to shift attention from the real perpetrators of the act.

Earlier, the police public relations officer, Benue State command, DSP Catherine Anene, confirmed the development to our correspondent through a text message.

Anene stated, “Gunmen attacked Agbo village and claimed the lives of two persons. One person is receiving treatment at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH). Policemen have been deployed to forestall further breach of peace.’’

Governor Samuel Ortom, who visited the scene alongside the police commissioner in the state, Mukaddas Garba, described the killings as “unfortunate.’’

He said, “This is not the Nigeria of our dream. This is not the Benue of our dreams. This is unfortunate and unacceptable. It is impossible to put security in all places in the state, so I urge residents to be very vigilant. These terrorists, most of who are not Nigerians, have continued to kill people who have not offended them in any way. This will not be allowed.’’

The governor added that the pattern of the attack and killings, barely four days after a similar incident at Tse-Angbande, bore the design of a grand plan to whittle down operations of livestock guards and agro rangers who are doing very well in containing attacks on communities and enforcing the ranching law of the state.

He, therefore, directed the recruitment of more personnel of the livestock guards and vigilante members to help provide intelligence to conventional security agencies.

He said personnel of the community police, who have already been recruited from the 23 local government areas of the state, would also begin operation soon.

Ortom also directed his special adviser on security matters to liaise with his local government and chieftaincy affairs counterpart and the permanent secretary in the Bureau of Internal Affairs to effect the recruitment of more livestock guards and vigilante personnel.

Consequent upon the development, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Makurdi branch, has declared one-day mourning for their fallen colleague, during which all lawyers in the branch would boycott court activities on Monday, December 21, 2020.

The chairman of the branch, Justin Gbagir made this known while speaking with Governor Ortom in Makurdi a day after the killing of their colleague.

The association has also dragged the Federal Government to court for failing to protect the lives of its citizens, and demanded the declaration of a state of emergency on the security situation in the country.