A group of yet-to-be identified gunmen have attacked the Ikpomolokpo palace in Gege ward of Ado Local Government Area, Benue State, killing the son of the traditional ruler.
It was gathered that the incident occured in the early hours of Monday when the assailants stormed the palace with the intention to kidnap the monarch and his wife.
The incident was confirmed by Chief James Oche, Chairman of the local government, who added that one of the monarch’s daughters was kidnapped during the attack.
“Some gunmen at about 2am today (Monday) entered into the residence of the clan head of Ipomoloko through the fence and asked for the wife of the clan head from the son whose name is Thompson.
“The young man told them that he did not know the whereabouts of his mother and they shot him dead and they now took the sister away,” he said.
A resident of the area revealed that there has been fear of subsequent attacks since the kidnapping.
According to him, “at about 2am, we started hearing heavy gunshots from the palace area but no one could come out because we were all looking for safety”.
“This night won’t be easy for us, some people have already traveled to Makurdi and Otukpo but not all of us have places to go”.
The Benue state police command was yet to confirm the incident at the time of filing this report.
