The Ochetoha K’Idoma Forum has expressed deep sorrow over the killing of David Onu Salifu, the former secretary to the government of Benue State (SSG), describing his death as a monumental loss to the Idoma nation, Benue state and Nigeria.
The socio-cultural organisation also called on security agencies to ensure that those responsible for the attack are apprehended and prosecuted, warning that the continued wave of insecurity on Nigerian highways and in rural communities has become unacceptable.
In a statement issued Sunday, the forum said Salifu, a renowned academic and former Benue SSG, was brutally murdered by armed men on Thursday, July 2, 2026, along the Wukari–Makurdi highway while travelling to his hometown to attend the burial of a beloved uncle.
According to the group, the late professor was reportedly dragged out of his vehicle by the attackers, shot at close range and left critically wounded before he was eventually taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, where he succumbed to his injuries in the early hours of Friday.
The forum described the circumstances surrounding his death as heartbreaking and unacceptable, noting that Nigeria had once again lost one of its finest administrators, scholars and community leaders to violent crime.
