Gunmen behead youth leader, throw corpse into River in Kogi.

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A middle aged man, Daddy Noah was on Wednesday abducted from his village, Patanyi, in Bagana ward of Omala Local Government Area of Kogi state. Nooa was later found to have been beheaded and his corpse thrown into River Benue in Kogi state.

The incident was said to have occurred when the youth leader in company of four friends went on hunting expedition, when the gunmen stormed the forest and abducted him while his other friends escaped by the whiskers.

The deceased according to locals was one of the person defending his clan, Ihiankpe against the onslaught of the Otutubatu clan, who have been up in arms against each other over the control of Bagana community in the council area.

According to a eye witness account, suspected bandits numbering over twenty had on the said day stormed the sleepy town of Patanyi shooting sporadically, as the villagers ran helter skelter to save their lives and, in the process, (Daddy, as he was fondly called) was abducted and taken to unknown destination.

The eyewitness added that, Daddy body shows that he must have been subjected to Ill treatment before he was beheaded and the corpse thrown into River Benue at Bagana.

One of the source who did not want his name in print in order not to be traced by the suspected militia said, “On Wednesday afternoon (17/5 /2023) when the villagers were returning from farms, we were taken by surprise with staccato of gun shots from different directions, making us to scampered to safety. However, Daddy Noah was unlucky as he was cut up by the gunmen.

“The gunmen came through Bagana and Ogba route before arriving at Patanyi to carry out the dastard act. The villagers then mobilised themselves into a search party who later discovered the mutilated corpse floating at the bank of River Benue at Bagana.

“It was a gory sight to behold, as his head was chopped off, his hands and legs were equally cut to smithereens. Lamentably the deceased had lost his father, Noah Akoja ,his senior brother, an uncle, Alih to the crisis, even as their family houses in Bagana were burnt to rubbles.

“As I’m talking to you, no member of Ihiankpe clan is having his or her house standing in Bagana. They have all been burnt down by the suspected militias allegedly helping the Otututubatu clan to prosecute the war.

“This latest onslaught against our clan is coming on the heels of the final phase of the fact finding engagement with the communities by the peace committee set up by His Royal Majesty, Ata’Igala Matthew Opaluwa Oguche-Akpa. This killing has taken us back in the peace building process” He recounted the ordeal amid wailing.

Recall that Bagana, a commercial nerve centre of Omala LGA 15km north of Abejukolo, headquarters of the council, has been engrossed in carnage since 2013, and all efforts by the state government to restore normalcy proved abortive.

When contacted, the paramount ruler of Omala LGA, HRH Boniface Musa, the Ojogba of Ife who confirmed the I cidence condemned the killing, saying it was one too many for the people of the communities.

He called on the state, Federal Governments and security agencies to come to his aid to permanently end the crisis.

He lamented that the crises has caused serious socio- economic hardship and it has become unbearable for the entire local Government Area to bear the burden of internally Displaced Persons who had fled from their homes.
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