Operatives suspected to be armed robbers have raided the country home of Colonel Liman Adulugba, (retd), a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) in Benue State. An eye witness told Intervention it was a four hour long operation from 1 to 4 am on Sunday morning at Opialu Village in Edumoga District of Okpokwu Local Government Council of Benue State. At the end of the day, the suspected robbers carted away refrigerators, air conditioners, electronics and his car, the total cost of which is yet to be estimated.
Hon. Anne Itodo, Sole Administrator of Okpokwu LGA
Someone who spoke with the guards at the in-gate said the robbers must have gained entry into house through the back because they, (guards) encountered no such persons. The robbers have also been reported to have said it was hunger that brought them, not a mission to harm him. Whether this is frankness or an attempt to divert attention is still unclear. Col Adulugba is not rated to be a wealthy politician although the Benue State government just announced his name as a member of a board which is yet to be inaugurated. He was military spokesperson to a former Chief of Army Staff, (COAS).
It is either the suspected robbers overwhelmed the retired military officer or took control of his handset early in the operation because the usually effective vigilantes in the village said they got no alert throughout the operation.
By 7.26 am today when Intervention called at Colonel Liman’s new and removed house, a car had picked him a few minutes earlier and driven obviously to Okpoga, the LGA Headquarters. The robbery which is the talk of the community and far flung places where the soldier turned politician is known is also the stuff of folk speculation. Outsiders are broadly suspected but others ask if a bunch of outsiders can organise and carry out a 4 hour long raid on a retired military officer’s house without the guidance of insiders.
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State
Intervention could not connect with the Divisional Police Office at Okpoga up till the time of reporting but it is expected they might have swung into action. It is understood a typical area command of the Nigeria Police has the capacity to burst an action of this type. This is more so that tension has been high within the local government since February 4th, 2017 when a policeman on duty was killed by persons suspected to be cultists. In the aftermath, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, (SARS) carried out raids that went as far as uninvited entry into a school such as Benue Polytechnic in rounding up students and academics. No less than 70 suspects are believed to have been nabbed since then, about half of that number still on remand in the prison custody in Makurdi, the Benue State capital. While the action appears to enjoy considerable communal approval, it has also attracted condemnation by those who allege that many of the suspects still in custody are the innocent ones. Contentions around the propriety or otherwise are conducted in hushed tones as no one is in the mood to comment openly on the rising security stake in the area.
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