Gunmen have killed six persons including the driver of a commercial car travelling from Takum Local Government Area to Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State.
The incident occurred at Sai community, a border area of Benue State overstretching into Takum LGA of Taraba State.
The chairman of the Takum council John Ali confirmed the incident on Monday.
The Takum-Wukari Express Road is the same spot where the traditional ruler of Chanchanji and his son were ambushed and killed by gunmen recently while returning from a funeral service in Takum town.
According to him, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has been warned against plying the route early in the morning due to the volatile nature of the road.
The first vehicle that carried about five passengers left Takum in the early hours of Monday at about 6:00 am, the vehicle alongside its occupants approached Sai a community in Benue state and we usually have problems in that axis.
“The hoodlums emerged from the bush and opened fire on the moving vehicle and killed the six passengers including the driver. I have instructed the security agencies to carry the corpse, deposit it, and go after the hoodlums.
“Already, there is a team of security agencies put in place by the Governor shortly after the killing of the third-class chief of Chanchanji and his son. The patrol team was preparing to move into their various units of the patrol as they normally come out around 7:00 am but the incident happened between 6:00 am to 6:30 am.
We earlier had a security meeting with the NURTW and other unions where we warned against plying the road as early as possible in the morning because security agencies on patrol have not resumed duty. I do not know why they failed to intimate their members or why this driver left early in the morning and became a victim.”
He stressed that the hoodlums will not go unpunished as the government is doing everything possible to apprehend the perpetrators.
