Gunmen abduct six mourners taking woman's body home to Benue
- Six people, including a widower, were seized on Adoka Road in Otukpo on Friday night while carrying his wife's body to Okpoga.
- The kidnappers abandoned the corpse and are demanding ₦15m, according to the Otukpo council chairman and family contacts.
- Police and the local council say rescue efforts are ongoing; the victims had not been freed as of Monday.
Gunmen have abducted six people who were travelling from Kano to Okpoga in Benue State to bury a woman, abandoning her body by the roadside on Adoka Road in Otukpo Local Government Area.
The victims, said to include the dead woman's husband and five friends, were seized at about 8pm on Friday. They had been on the road since leaving Kano, and Adoka was about an hour from their destination in Okpokwu Local Government Area.
The Otukpo council chairman, Maxwell Ogiri, confirmed the abduction on Monday, saying the driver of the vehicle was his friend. "It is really traumatic," he said, adding that the kidnappers were demanding ₦15 million.
The Benue State police spokesperson, DSP Peter Aondongu, also confirmed the incident, saying it happened on Friday and that officers were working to rescue the victims.
Body found on Saturday
According to residents and a community member, Meddy Olotu, the woman's body was left in the vehicle when the gunmen took the six men into the bush. Officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) reportedly found the corpse on Saturday morning and took it to the police station at Adoka, from where it was moved to a mortuary.
Olotu said the abductors had since made contact with the family and were asking for ₦15 million. He said one relative could speak with them because he understands Hausa. As of Monday, the six had not been released.
Ogiri said security agencies were tracking the kidnappers, and that local vigilantes and youths were also involved in the push to free the victims.
Why it matters
The Otukpo-Adoka and Ohimini roads have become dangerous for travellers. In October, gunmen abducted a Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. John Otache, and seven others along the Ugbokolo-Ajegbe-Awume Road in Ohimini. In August, 14 passengers heading to Abuja were taken along the Otukpo-Adoka Road.
For families in Benue and travellers passing through the state, the repeated attacks mean night journeys and remote highways carry real risk. For the bereaved family in this case, the grief of losing a wife and mother has been compounded by the disappearance of the men bringing her home for burial.
What happens next: Police say rescue efforts are ongoing. The woman's body remains in a mortuary in Adoka pending the release of the abducted men.
