Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has vowed to fish out killers of his senior special assistant on security, Mr. Deneen Igbana.Igbana was assassinated early Friday in his private residence at Tionsha area, along Makurdi-Naka expressway.
Ortom described the assassination of his aide as irreparable, saying the death was impliedly a heavy blow to him and the entire administration. He promised to quickly mobilize security agencies to unravel the killing and fish out the culprits.
Reports say the aide had just arrived home from work when the gunmen attacked him.
Witnesses disclosed that the gunmen stormed the house and shot severally on the Hilux van in which the SSA drove.
The assailants pursued him when he attempted to escape before he was finally killed in a house near his home.
Governor Ortom paid a condolence visit to the family at the residence in Tionsha, alongside members of the executive and state security councils.
He also visited the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH) mortuary where the corpse was deposited.
The leader of Tionsha community, Chief Thomas Ayakpam said the death was a great loss to the entire community and state. He noted that the SSA was killed by the gunmen for no just cause.
“The gunmen came in the midnight at about 12.32am when he just returned and had not come down from his vehicle.
He came down from the vehicle but they pursued him and shot him several times in the leg and stomach. But Deneen was wailing, calling for help. He died while being conveyed to the hospital after the gunmen had escaped,” Ayakpam stated.
