#Civil Defense Commander Killed By Bandits In Benue

By HEADLINENEWS.NEWS

• Civil Defense Commander Killed By Bandits In Benue.
• NSCDC confirmed the incident, stating that Ode was killed during a confrontation with bandits.
• Nicholas Ode, the deceased’s uncle, confirmed the tragic event.

HEADLINENEWS.NEWS reports that a commander of the agro rangers unit of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps in Benue State, identified as Mike Ode, was reportedly killed by gunmen suspected to be bandits.

The incident occurred in Shaapera community, situated in the Gwer West Local Government Area of the state

Nicholas Ode, the deceased’s uncle, confirmed the tragic event, stating that Mike Ode was brutally murdered in Shaapera village on Monday. The body has been transferred to the morgue of Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi.

He said, “We were told that he went for a special assignment at Shaapera village. It was there that they had a confrontation with the herdsmen, and during the gun duel, they confirmed that the NSCDC officers were able to kill up to 10 of the bandits.

Unfortunately, we were told that one of the four civil defence guys, which is my brother, was gunned down while others escaped.”

The NSCDC Command Public Relations Officer, Mike Ejelikwu, confirmed the incident, adding that the death of the personnel would not deter the command from performing its constitutional mandate of providing security for every law-abiding citizen in the state.

He said, “NSCDC has a specialised squad called the Agro Rangers located across Gwer West, Logo, Apa, Kwande, Guma, among others, to provide security for Agro-allied investment, be it animal husbandry or crop production.”

He added that the deceased was killed during a gun duel with the bandits but added that there was heavy casualty on the part of the bandits.

“We lost one agro ranger who incidentally was the commander of the operation,” he said, adding that the command was already in touch with his family.