Ugboju community in the Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State was again thrown into mourning as yet-to-be-identified gunmen killed a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ejeh Ijachi.
The incident happened in the early hours of Monday at his residence, in what may not be unconnected to a 2017 violent conflict that claimed eight lives.
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His death came eight years after he reportedly escaped several assassination attempts on his life due to an alleged long-standing crisis between him and a relative over a land ownership dispute.
The fallout of the land dispute led to the loss of lives in Ondo and Ogobia communities.
One of them is a former state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), retired Major Lawrence Ugboh, who was murdered along with seven others in September 2017.
According to an eyewitness who spoke to Channels Television on condition of anonymity, the assassins came on motorcycles and lay in ambush for Ejeh around his home and upon sighting him inside his compound, opened fire.
“They surrounded him and shot at him at close range. His body has since been deposited at the morgue in Otukpo,” an eyewitness added.
LG Chair Confirms Attack
The Chairman of the Otukpo Local Government Area, Maxwell Ogiri, confirmed the incident, explaining that the late Ejeh was murdered by unknown gunmen who traced him to his residence to carry out the dastardly act.
“Ejeh Udeh was murdered. We don’t know the reasons for his murder yet, whether remote or immediate, but we can only say that his murderers were determined.
“They followed him to his house after he came back from a hangout with some friends and associates. He parked his car and went to his house and they began to fire from a distance, got closer to him and then finished him up.
“I went to the scene in the company of the DSS boss and other heads of security agencies and they promised to expand their dragnet to ensure the arrest of the perpetrators,”, Ogiri added.
But the police public relations officer in Benue state, DSP Udeme Edet, when contacted, said she had yet to receive information about the killing of Ejeh.
