Former Secretary to the Benue State Government, Prof. David Salifu, has been killed by suspected gunmen who ambushed him along the Wukari–Joota Road in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area, a border axis between Benue and Taraba states.
Salifu, a Professor of Public Administration and former Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Federal University Wukari, was on his way to Makurdi for his uncle’s burial when he was attacked.
He was shot in the stomach and first taken to a hospital in Wukari, where doctors removed the bullets. He was later moved to the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, but died around midnight on Thursday.
A former aide, Mr. Ben Ekah, who confirmed the death, said Salifu and his driver were travelling from the Federal University Wukari when the gunmen struck. He said the attackers stopped the vehicle, pulled Salifu out and tried to drag him away. When he questioned them, one of the assailants shot him at close range in the stomach before the group fled, leaving him bleeding by the roadside.
His driver rushed him back to Wukari, where surgeons removed the bullets, before he was later referred to Makurdi for further treatment. He did not survive.
Ekah described Salifu as humble and peace-loving, noting that he had stepped out of a Senate meeting at the university to travel home for the burial.
Salifu served as Benue State’s SSG under former Governor Gabriel Suswam from January 2011 to May 2015.
The Benue Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Udeme Edet, was unavailable for comment at press time.
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