Ortom’s ex-aide escapes as gunmen abduct his wife, house help

Gunmen attacked one of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirants in Benue in the 2023 race, Mr Terwase Orbunde on Friday and abducted his wife and house help, the police declared on Saturday.

Orbunde, Chief of Staff to erstwhile Governor Samuel Ortom escaped with a gunshot wound to his right arm in the attack.

Police spokesperson in Benue, SP Sewuese Anene, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the gunmen attacked Orbunde and members of his household in the Benue capital as they were returning from the farm.

She said Orbunde reported the attack to the police which dispatched a team of detectives to the scene of the assault and recovered the politician’s car.

Anene assured that the assailants would be tracked and arrested and the abducted freed.

Eyewitnesses said Orbunde, his wife, and the house help had gone to inspect the weeding of their farm located close to the road.

After paying the workers, five gunmen attacked them and ordered their victims to follow them to an unknown destination, but discarded bleeding Orbunde who was too slow to keep pace.

The gunshot caused villagers and passers-by to scamper to safety in different directions, the eyewitnesses said.

A family source told newsmen that the assailants demanded a N100 million ransom on Saturday for the release of the two women abducted.