The Benue State chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Ardo Muhammad, and a companion identified as Yakubu Isah have been killed in a gunmen ambush in Otukpo LGA shortly after attending a peace meeting — triggering serious tension across the area.
He went to a peace meeting. He never made it home.
Ardo Muhammad, the Benue State Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), and his companion Yakubu Isah were ambushed and killed by gunmen in Otukpo Local Government Area on Friday afternoon — just hours after attending a peace dialogue allegedly convened by the Divisional Police Officer of Ohinmini with leaders of the Ayunne community.
The irony is devastating. A man who sat at a peace table was gunned down on his way back.
According to Punch,Muhammad’s eldest son confirmed his father’s death in a telephone interview with journalists, saying he was ambushed while travelling back from the meeting.
The fallout was immediate. Otukpo LGA Chairman Maxwell Ogiri confirmed the killings and acknowledged the spike in tensions that followed.
“It is true that the state chairman of MACBAN was killed within Otukpo LGA this afternoon. The killing has raised tension in the community and environs,” Ogiri said, while urging residents to remain calm and assuring that security operatives were responding to the situation.
The attack has sent shockwaves through both Otukpo and neighbouring Ohinmini LGA — two areas already navigating the volatile fault lines of farmer-herder tensions that have plagued Benue State for years.
Killing a man returning from a peace meeting isn’t just an act of violence — it’s a direct message. And in Benue, that message lands with terrifying clarity.
Security forces say they are on the ground. Communities are holding their breath.
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