Men suspected to be herdsmen have killed a commander of the agro-ranger of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Benue State Command, Mike Ode.
The incident happened in Gwer West Local Government Area of the state on Monday, May 6, 2024.
The deceased’s uncle, Nicholas Ode said that he was brutally killed at Shaapera village.
“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 were able to kill up to 10 of them,” he told Punch on Wednesday, May 8.
“Unfortunately, we were told that one of the four civil defence guys which is my brother was gunned down while others escaped.”
He added that the corpse had been deposited at the morgue of Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi.
The spokesperson of the Corps in the state, Superintendent of Corps, Mike Ejelikwu, who confirmed the incident, said that the death of the personnel would not deter the command from performing its constitutional mandate of providing security for every law-abiding citizen in the state.
“NSCDC has a specialised squad called the Agro Rangers located across Gwer West, Logo, Apa, Kwande, and Guma among others, to provide security for agro-allied investment,” he said.
Ejelikwu disclosed that the deceased was killed during a gun duel with the bandits, adding that there was heavy casualty on the part of the bandits.
“We lost one agro ranger who incidentally was the commander of the operation. The command was already in touch with his family.”
