In Benue, NSCDC commander is killed by bandits

In Benue State, a commander of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps’ agro ranger unit was reportedly shot and murdered by gunmen who were thought to be robbers.

Mike Ode was named as the deceased.

The Shaapera settlement in the state’s Gwer West Local Government Area is where the incident took place.

Nicholas Ode, the uncle of the deceased, said that his brother was savagely murdered on Monday in Shaapera village, Gwer West LGA. He also said that the body had been placed in the morgue of the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi.

He said, “We were told that he went for a special assignment at Shaapera village. It was there that they had a confrontation with the herdsmen and during the gun duel, they confirmed that the NSCDC officers were able to kill up to 10 of the bandits.

“Unfortunately, we were told that one of the four civil defence guys, which is my brother, was gunned down while others escaped.”

Mike Ejelikwu, the command’s public relations officer for the NSCDC, confirmed the occurrence and stated that the personnel’s deaths will not prevent the command from carrying out its constitutional duty of protecting all law-abiding citizens in the state.

He said, “NSCDC has a specialised squad called the Agro Rangers located across Gwer West, Logo, Apa, Kwande, Guma, among others, to provide security for Agro-allied investment, be it animal husbandry or crop production.”

He also mentioned that there had been significant casualties among the bandits, but the deceased was slain in a gunfight with them.

“We lost one agro ranger who incidentally was the commander of the operation,” he said, adding that the command was already in touch with his family.