MAKURDI, Nigeria — At least seven people were killed in two separate attacks in Benue State, with authorities and local officials confirming that 12 passengers remain missing after a highway ambush along the Utonkon axis.
In the first incident, armed attackers identified by residents and local leaders as suspected herders struck Entekpa/Adoka in Otukpo LGA, killing five people and injuring others. Otukpo officials said the assailants used cattle movement as a decoy before opening fire, forcing villagers to flee and leaving parts of the community deserted.
Otukpo LGA Chairman Maxwell Ogiri, quoted in multiple reports, said security forces and local civil protection units were deployed after the attack, while displaced residents took shelter with relatives rather than in formal camps.
Hours later, gunmen ambushed a commercial bus on the Utonkon–Ojapo/Okpoga corridor. Local officials said the vehicle, carrying passengers from Oju/Obi axis, was intercepted around evening hours; two passengers were shot dead and the remaining passengers taken into the bush. Two later regained freedom, leaving 12 still in captivity.
The Oju LGA chairman said search-and-rescue efforts are ongoing in coordination with neighboring council authorities and security agencies. Media reports also link the incident to a wider deterioration in security on that route, coming shortly after separate abductions reported in the same broader area.
A notable challenge in this story is conflicting early casualty/abduction figures across outlets (some initial reports cited 14–16 abducted, and one reported one death before later updates aligned around two deaths in the ambush). The most consistent current count across multiple late reports is: five killed in Adoka, two killed in the bus attack, 12 still missing after two escaped.
The incidents reinforce growing concerns over coordinated rural and transit-route violence in Benue’s southern axis, where communities complain of insufficient protection and delayed rapid response. Unless sustained patrol, intelligence fusion, and route hardening are implemented, local officials warn displacement and highway kidnappings could worsen.
