Benue: Bandits kill PDP chieftain, others in renewed attacks

Benue map

Suspected bandits have killed an unspecified number of people in a fresh wave of attacks on Guma and Gwer West Local Government Areas of Benue State, with the immediate past PDP Ward Chairman, James Akase, among those reportedly murdered.

Local sources confirmed that the attacks occurred on Monday, May 19, 2025, targeting several rural communities.

Villages hit include Tse Ikpe Ago, located along the Yogbo-Gyungu Aze road in Mbayer/Yandev Council Ward, and Tse Kologa in Mbagune, Nyiev Council Ward.

One local, who spoke to journalists in Makurdi on condition of anonymity, described the incidents as coordinated assaults on unarmed farming communities.

“In Gwer West, the Fulani militias ambushed and brutally murdered Hon. James Akase of Tse-Defam, Mba’akov Vengav, Avihijime Council Ward,” the source said.

Akase, who had previously been displaced by earlier attacks, was said to have returned to his community in search of food when he was killed.

Confirming the killing, Gwer West Local Government Chairman, Victor Ormin, told journalists that Akase was attacked on his farm. “He went to get some food from his farm and was unfortunately killed. Another man was also kidnapped yesterday, but his family paid a ransom, and he was released later in the night,” Ormin said.

Efforts to reach Guma LGA Chairman, Maurice Orwough, were unsuccessful, as calls to his mobile phone went unanswered.

Similarly, the Benue State Police Command spokesperson, Catherine Anene, could not be reached for confirmation, as her phone rang out repeatedly without response.

The renewed attacks mark another grim chapter in the ongoing security crisis in Benue, where armed herders and bandits have continued to terrorise farming communities, displacing thousands and claiming scores of lives. Punch