Benue State Police Command has confirmed the attack on the family of Mr Terwase Orbunde, Chief of Staff to the immediate past Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom by armed men suspected to be herdsmen.
Orbunde and members of his family comprising the wife and house help were attack on his farm where his wife and the maid were whisked away to an unknown destination.
The State Police spokesperson Catherine Anene who disclosed this said, the Command got a report Friday evening from the Chief of Staff himself that he was attacked on his farm in the evening and his wife and house helped were abducted.
According to the PPRO, the complainant, Orbunde, was seen with a wound on the hand but she did not know whether the wound was obtained through a gunshot.
It was gathered that the attack took place close to the Genocide Cemetery along Mobile Barracks-Welfare Quarters Road in Makurdi, the state capital on Friday, April 12, 2024, at about 6 pm.
The family source who did not want his name in print explained that the former Chief of Staff escaped with a gunshot wound on his right arm while the attackers whisked away his wife Kashimana Orbunde, and her house help, Patience Ogute.
The victims had gone to inspect the weeding of the farm located close to the road at the time they were attacked.
In a telephone conversation, an eyewitness told our correspondent that unknown gunmen numbering about five suddenly appeared and attacked the victims as they walked back to their car after inspecting the farm and paying the workers.
“As the victims walked to their car, the gunmen opened fire and shot Orbunde on the right arm and ordered him, the wife and house help to follow them to an unknown destination,” a source said.
The shooting was said to have caused villagers and passersby to scamper for safety in different directions.
As the victims followed them, the former Chief of Staff was said to be bleeding profusely and unable to walk quickly.
The eyewitnesses who was watching from a distance said the leader of the group ordered him to walk away while the gunmen took the women to an unknown destination and a good Samaritans who arrived the scene conveyed Orbunde to the hospital.