Former Benue State SSG Dies After Bandit Ambush

A former Secretary to the Benue State Government, Professor David Salifu, has died after sustaining severe gunshot wounds during a highway ambush by suspected bandits. The academic and politician succumbed to his injuries early Friday morning at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital in Makurdi. The attack occurred on Thursday along the notorious Wukari-Zaki Biam road, a volatile transport artery linking Taraba and Benue states. Professor Salifu served as the state’s chief administrative officer under the previous administration of Governor Gabriel Suswam. Until his death, he worked as a senior lecturer at the Federal University, Wukari.

The fatal encounter unfolded on the outskirts of Wukari as the former official journeyed toward the Benue State capital. Armed men intercepted his vehicle, forced it to a halt, and ordered him to dismount and board a waiting motorcycle. Witnesses reported that the professor vigorously challenged the directives of his captors, prompting the gunmen to open fire at close range. The assailants quickly fled the scene into nearby brush as trailing commuters approached the bloodstained vehicle. The brazen roadside assault underscores the absolute lawlessness that continues to dominate inter-state transit routes across the middle belt region.

University authorities scrambled a medical team and an emergency ambulance to manage the crisis after local clinics proved inadequate. Initial plans to airlift the critically wounded academic to a specialised trauma centre in Abuja were aborted as his vital signs deteriorated rapidly. Doctors redirected the emergency vehicle to Makurdi, where emergency surgeons fought for hours to stabilise his condition. Close political associates confirmed his demise, describing the loss of the veteran campaign strategist as a devastating blow to the regional intelligentsia. The Taraba State Police Command has launched a forensic investigation into the highway murder.

The killing adds to a grim tally of high-profile casualties claimed by rural bandit syndicates over recent months. Just days earlier, coordinated militia raids in the nearby Katsina-Ala local government enclave left 15 rural villagers dead. The border zones between Benue and Taraba have transformed into ungovernable spaces where criminal gangs operate with near-total impunity. Despite frequent military deployments, these mobile networks routinely outmanoeuvre conventional checkpoints to hunt vulnerable commuters. Regional leaders continue to accuse the federal government of failing to deploy permanent highway patrols along known criminal corridors.

This latest tragedy will intensify public pressure on Governor Hyacinth Alia to overhaul the state’s internal security framework. The persistent vulnerability of prominent senior citizens demonstrates that nobody is safe from the expanding reach of rural terrorism. Frustrated residents are increasingly calling for the aggressive arming of local vigilante groups to counter the superior firepower of highway bandits. While political elites in Abuja debate national policing reforms, rural professors and peasants continue to pay the ultimate price. For now, a prominent voice in Benue politics has been permanently silenced by a roadside bullet.