BREAKING: Protesters storm Och’Idoma Palace with victims’ bodies, disrupt church service

Tension escalated in Otukpo, Benue State, on Sunday as angry youths stormed the Och’Idoma Palace carrying the bodies of victims killed in fresh attacks by suspected armed herdsmen, disrupting a church service in the palace and demanding urgent action over the worsening insecurity in Benue South.

The protesters, mostly youths from the affected communities, marched to the palace with the corpses of some of those killed during the attack on Otukpo Nobi communities in Otukpo Local Government Area.

The demonstrators, who accused authorities of failing to protect their communities from repeated attacks, insisted that enough was enough and called for immediate government intervention to halt the killings.

The protest caused panic around the palace as worshippers and residents watched the dramatic procession.
The church service at the palace was temporarily disrupted as the protesters demanded to see the Och’Idoma over the renewed bloodshed.

The protest followed fresh attacks by suspected armed herdsmen that reportedly claimed the lives of several residents over the weekend.

IDOMA VOICE had earlier reported that suspected herdsmen attacked Akpachi village in Ugboju community on Saturday, killing two persons and injuring several others.

In another attack early Sunday, gunmen reportedly invaded Otukpo Nobi community, where at least eight more people were killed and several others sustained injuries.

The latest attacks have deepened fears over the deteriorating security situation in Benue South, coming barely weeks after the killing of the Benue State Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Alhaji Ardo Risku Mohammed, and his associate, Yakubu Isah, in Otukpo.

As of the time of filing this report, security agencies had yet to issue an official statement on the protest or the fresh attacks.

More details shortly.