Troops Kill Suspect Linked To Ex-Benue SSG Salifu Attack

Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke have killed a suspected bandit believed to be linked to the attack that led to the death of former Benue Secretary to the State Government, Professor David Salifu.

The new operation follows Salifu’s death after a gun attack on the Wukari-Makurdi road, which NaijaTrend earlier reported here.

Acting OPWS Media Information Officer Ahmad Zubairu said troops moved to Jotar village near the Quarantine Checkpoint after receiving intelligence about suspected kidnappers in the area.

According to the military account reported by Daily Post and Premium Times, troops stationed at Kyado moved to the location on July 2 to stop the gang from carrying out an operation.

Zubairu said the troops engaged the armed suspects in a gun battle, killed one suspect and recovered one AK-47 rifle with two empty magazines. Other suspects reportedly fled with gunshot wounds.

The military said preliminary findings linked the dead suspect to the gang accused of attacking commuters on the Wukari-Makurdi corridor, where Salifu sustained injuries that later killed him.

Salifu served as SSG under former Governor Gabriel Suswam and also lectured at the Federal University, Wukari. Premium Times reported that he died on July 3 at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital in Makurdi.

Sources: Daily Post, Premium Times