Gunmen Kill Traditional Ruler, Wife, Son and Two Others in Benue Night Attack

Five Killed in Thursday Night Attack on Agatu Community

Gunmen stormed Olegabulu village in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State on Thursday night, April 23, killing five people including a traditional ruler, his wife, his son, and two other community members. The assailants arrived on two motorcycles at approximately 8 pm and spent nearly 20 minutes inside the community before fleeing — long enough to move from the monarch’s compound to an adjacent house and kill two more people.

A local source told Legit.ng that the attackers were not immediately identified as outsiders: “The assailants were not Fulani because, at the time they alighted from their motorcycles, they exchanged pleasantries with people around in our dialect. So, nobody envisaged they were enemies, but as soon as they entered the traditional ruler’s house and opened fire, everyone scampered for safety.”

LGA Chairman Confirms Five Dead, One Injured

Melvin Ejeh, chairman of the Agatu Local Government Area, confirmed the attack and its death toll. “It’s true the incident happened. Five people were killed and one person was injured during the attack,” he told reporters. Police officers visited the scene, but the Benue State police spokesperson DSP Udeme Edet said she had yet to receive a formal report on the incident — a response that drew sharp criticism from residents who noted the pattern of delayed security acknowledgement in the region.

Agatu’s Unending Nightmare

Agatu LGA has been one of the most persistently attacked communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt crisis. The area has experienced repeated cycles of violence over the past decade, with attacks typically attributed to conflict between farming communities and armed herdsmen — though Thursday’s attack, based on the linguistic detail provided by the local source, may point to a different dynamic. The killing of a traditional ruler raises the stakes significantly, as monarchs are often seen as symbolic and practical stabilising figures in rural communities.

Benue State has repeatedly called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency over the security situation, but no formal emergency has been declared. The killings come days after President Tinubu summoned security chiefs over rising violence in both Benue and Plateau states.

Sources: Legit.ng, Leadership, The Punch