Benue: Gunmen kill 1 as police arrest 4 suspects

The Benue State police command has confirmed the killing of a 70-year-old man by gunmen at Ugbokolo town in Okpokwu Local Government Area of the state. Spokesman for the command, DSP Moses Yamu, told our correspondent by telephone that the deceased was attacked on Wednesday night in his house by three people whose identities have […]

The Benue State police command has confirmed the killing of a 70-year-old man by gunmen at Ugbokolo town in Okpokwu Local Government Area of the state.

Spokesman for the command, DSP Moses Yamu, told our correspondent by telephone that the deceased was attacked on Wednesday night in his house by three people whose identities have not yet been ascertained.

Yamu said the police have already launched an investigation to bring the killers of the septuagenarian to book.

He also disclosed that four suspected cultists were arrested on Boxing Day in Otukpo area of the state based on intelligence information received by the police that some people belonging to the Red Skin secret cult had concluded arrangement on initiating new converts.

The police spokesman said when security operatives raided the venue of the initiation on Wednesday night while the event was ongoing, the four suspects were apprehended and others escaped.

Yamu listed items recovered from them to include; one locally made pistol, two live cartridges, 60 wraps of dry leaves suspected to be Indian hemp and a big bottle of dry gin.

He however dismissed claims making the rounds in Otukpo town that one person was allegedly killed by suspected cultists on same day, saying that the police were not aware of any killing neither did they find any dead body as evidence to substantiate the rumour.

“We can’t confirm any killing in Otukpo. Our men in the area actually received an SOS call that there were shootings at a particular street in Otukpo but when they got there, nobody was found to tell us anything we needed to know; and no corpse was found as well,” Yamu stated.