Gunmen kill two, abduct one in Benue

Gunmen late hour of Friday killed two people and abducted one person in Zaki Biam town, headquarter of Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State.

The incident was said to have occurred at  Wankya settlement of Zaki-Biam town, Ukum throwing residents of the community into confusion.

A local told Sunday Tribune that the killers stormed the area around 11.30 p.m. with guns and  broke into the homes of the victims..

The source gave the names of those killed as Caster Wantu, younger brother to the Benue State correspondent of The Guardian Newspaper, and Denen, a recharge card seller in the settlement, while the third persons, Terseer Wantu escaped unhurt.

Explaining how it happened, Wantu said himself and his killed brother, had already gone to bed with no inkling  of any heinous attack on them, only for them to witness forceful invasion of their home by the bandit who took them away to unknown destination at gunpoint.

“The  assailants took three of us away to a distant bush path and asked me to lie face down and moved away with the other two who were eventually killed.

“After a while, they asked me to go but l lost my way because I could not find my direction to my home. So I decided to sleep in the bush till day break before I managed to trace  my way back home in the morning,” Wantu narrated.

He said that the matter had  been reported to the divisional police office in Zaki Biam  and useful statement made to them regarding the attack.

When contacted, the command spokesman, ASP Moses Yamu said he was yet to be briefed.

Meanwhile, a traditional ruler in Benue State, the Tor Sankera, Abu Shuluwa, has indicted the police as the brains behind the incessant killings in the state accusing them of releasing vital information to the killers, including the identity of the source of information.

Shuluwa who spoke in an interview with Sunday Tribune said such attitude had led to the murder of more than seven traditional rulers in his area while this had made informants to keep their information to themselves leading to frustration on the part of the police which is now making an allegation of “conspiracy of silence.”