Benue: Amnesty demands independent probe into killings In Otukpo Nobi
Amnesty International has called on the Nigerian authorities to carry out an “independent, impartial and effective investigation” into the deadly attack on Otukpo Nobi and Akpachi-Ugboju communities in Benue State, in which at least 10 people were killed on Sunday.
In a statement, the rights group said the attack has generated fear and panic across the Local Government Area and beyond.
“The Nigerian authorities must carry out an independent, impartial and effective investigation into the deadly Sunday 12 July 2026 attack on Otukpo Nobi and Akpachi-Ugboju Benue state in which at least 10 people were killed,” Amnesty said.
Daily Sun reports that the organisation noted that protests by youths in the aftermath of the attack “shows that people have had enough and seek an end to frequent attacks and abductions that have made life a hell in many parts of Benue state.”
It added that the fact protesters carried the victims’ corpses to the Och’Idoma Palace to register their grievances “is another indication that it is time to urgently end the bloodshed.”
Families of some victims told Amnesty International that many people remain missing since the attack, which also left several others severely injured.
Amnesty said frequent attacks on rural communities in Benue have left the state “littered with fresh graves and several internally displaced person’s camps.”
The group urged the authorities to take urgent steps to protect lives and avert a humanitarian catastrophe in Benue, where attacks by gunmen have displaced at least 500,000 people. Many of the displaced, it said, are “languishing in squalid camps without access to sufficient water, poor sanitation, food and healthcare.”
“The authorities must also prioritize holding suspected perpetrators to account,”_ the statement added. _“Government must live upto its main obligation of protecting lives and property.”
Daily Sun disclosed that the July 12 attack is the latest in a series of violent assaults on communities in Otukpo and neighbouring LGAs.
Governor Hyacinth Alia had in recent months ordered security agencies to dislodge suspected armed herdsmen camps in forests across Apa, Otukpo and Gwer-West LGAs following repeated killings in the area.
