Bandits Kill Former Benue SSG David Salifu

Former Benue State Secretary to the Government, David Salifu, has died after he was shot during an attack by suspected bandits along the Wukari-Makurdi highway.

David Salifu, who served under former Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam, was also a lecturer at the Federal University, Wukari, in Taraba State.

According to sources, gunmen reportedly intercepted his vehicle and ordered him to get out while he was travelling from Wukari to Makurdi on Thursday.

The attackers were said to have instructed him to ride on a motorcycle, but they allegedly opened fire after he questioned their demand.

Speaking with PUNCH on Friday, David Olofu, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate for the Benue South Senatorial District and a close associate of the deceased, confirmed that Salifu died in the early hours of Friday at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital in Makurdi.

“He was a member of my campaign council and a confidant. I learnt that he (Salifu) left Wukari and was coming to Benue when he encountered hoodlums at the outskirts of Wukari.

“They stopped his car and asked him to come down but the bandits thereafter shot him.

“He was taken to the teaching hospital in Wukari but due to the seriousness of the injury, we spoke to the Vice Chancellor of the University of Wukari who released an ambulance to bring him to Abuja with a team of doctors.

“But somehow, he was taken to the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi where he died early hours of today,” Olofu said.

The exact reason for the change in destination from Abuja to Makurdi has not yet been explained.

As of the time of filing this report, the Taraba State Police Command had not issued a statement on the attack despite efforts to obtain its reaction.

KanyiDaily also reported how bandits killed the Chief Imam of Talluje village in the Bodinga Local Government Area of Sokoto State during a deadly attack that also claimed the lives of two other residents.