By Amos Aar
A JOINT security patrol team in Benue State was reportedly ambushed by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen, leaving one Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) officer, Earnest Ayila, dead.
Sources close to the NSDC officer confirmed his death, while another NSCDC officer and a police inspector remain missing. Two additional personnel were injured in the attack.
The attack reportedly occurred on Monday along the Daudu-Ukohol portion of the Makurdi-Lafia Expressway near Yelwata, an area of Guma LGA, where suspected armed herdsmen attacked and massacred over 200 people.
A local source in Ukohol said the incident happened at about 2:19pm when the patrol team, comprising police, NSCDC personnel and local vigilantes, was on a routine operation. The team reportedly spotted burning houses and moved to investigate but was suddenly ambushed.
Two officers; Police Inspector Ochepo Benjamin, and an unnamed NSCDC operative, sustained gunshot injuries, and were receiving treatment at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi.
Three others, including Police Inspector Muhammed Abdullahi and two unnamed NSCDC officers, were initially declared missing.
As of press time, only one body, that of Ayila, had been recovered, while search operations for the remaining personnel continue.
When contacted, the Benue State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Udeme Edet, said she was not yet aware of the incident, despite graphic evidence of the casualties made available to her in her media WhatsApp group.
