The Idoma socio-cultural umbrella group, Ochetoha K’Idoma Forum Worldwide, claims that security services ignored intelligence that could have stopped the recent violence in Otukpo, Benue State. The organization asserts that the massacre, which resulted in at least 20 deaths in Akpachi-Ugboju and Otukpo’nobi, was entirely preventable.
According to the forum’s leadership, including President General Professor Yakubu Aboki Ochefu and Secretary General Paul Edeh, the Och’Idoma, His Royal Majesty Dr. Elaigwu Odogbo Obagaji, provided authorities with specific information about the impending raid before it occurred. The group contends that this failure to respond makes officials partly responsible for the loss of life.
The community’s frustration was evident when residents brought the bodies of the victims to the royal palace in a rare, historic protest. Among those killed were individuals identified as Onche, Ujah, Adoji, Juliet Ona, and Eyum, while many others suffered injuries.
The forum further criticized what it termed selective justice, citing the treatment of locals following the death of Ardo Risku Mohammed in Ohimini compared to the lack of action taken against those openly issuing threats online. They have requested urgent intervention from President Bola Tinubu, Governor Hyacinth Alia, and federal security chiefs, specifically calling for the clearance of armed groups from local forests and the release of wrongly detained residents.
While warning that the community may be forced to utilize its constitutional right to self-defense if protection is not provided, the group urged the Idoma people to maintain peace and avoid retaliatory violence.
