By Peter Duru, Makurdi

Nearly everyone is aware of the danger that lurks around there. Nobody is in the dark any longer regarding the atrocities going on in that part of Benue State.

It has since been known and established that the Naka-Otukpo Road is a dark spot where many are regularly robbed, killed, maimed, raped and kidnapped with reckless abandon, and nothing has happened to rein in the perpetrators of the horrible things happening there.

As a result, many have come to dub the place “the shortest route to hell”. Indeed, that vital road that connects Benue South, or Idoma-speaking part of Benue, to Makurdi the state capital, has become a source of horror and death. It is only those who want to die prematurely that dare to take that route while most residents of the state deliberately and consciously avoid it as a plague.

The road, which is in a complete state of disrepair, has become a haven of some sort for armed bandits who have turned the very lengthy stretch of forests on that axis to camps and hideouts. As a result of the poor state of the road, the number of those who have fallen victim to the armed gangs operating on the axis keeps growing by the week. Some of these victims include the rich, political and public office holders and the ordinary citizen.

Most of the victims met their untimely deaths on that stretch of road of less than 60 kilometres, while those who are lucky to escape tell horrifying tales of their experiences in the hands of their tormentors.

The daring militants, sometimes dressed in military camouflage on any day, simply take over the road at will, and in the course of the operation, unsuspecting road users are either shot or taken hostage by the marauders. The situation is so dangerous that those who manage to survive the onslaught can only regain their freedom on payment of specified amount of money as ransom.

Prominent among those who lost their lives on that road early in the year was the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in charge of Naka Division, Gwet West Local Government Area, LGA, Superintendent, SP, Mamud Abubakar, who was brutally killed by the armed men during a gun battle to rescue some commuters that were taken hostage by the marauders in one of their operations.

Aside the DPO who lost his life in that particular attack, five others did not make it alive out of that bloody incident. And despite the cold-blooded murder of SP Abubakar and the expected deployment of more security personnel to that axis, the reign of terror there continues.

Passengers of several commercial buses and cars, including those belonging to the state government-owned Benue Links Transport Company, have persistently come under attacks, and some of the victims taken away by the armed men only regain their freedom when ransom is paid for their release.

Only recently, a viral video showed hooded armed men dressed in military camouflage brutalising some of the victims they kidnapped on that road and taken into a nearby forest.

Strangely, despite the presence of security personnel who daily mount check points there, these ugly incidents have persisted and the daredevil criminals have continued to torment motorists and commuters with impunity.

That is why the Makurdi-Naka-Otukpo Road has been rightly dubbed by many as the ‘epicentre of kidnappings’ in the state, given the spate of abductions of unsuspecting road users by armed bandits. The situation has become so scary that commuters who ply that route are always scared as they drive through the route.

One of the victims who recently fell into the hands of the bandits was the suspended Chairman of Okpokwu LGA, Mrs. Amina Audu, who alongside her driver, was kidnapped near Tyolaha Ahume community while on their way to Otukpo.

The Council Chairman who spent three days with her abductors in the forest, was reluctantly released only after her family members raised and paid an unspecified amount of money as ransom for her release.

Narrating her ordeal and tortuous journey into the forest while in captivity, the Council Chairman said they were fed with pawpaw and garri by their captors: “You don’t know how harrowing it is to be with kidnappers. I cannot even say much now about what we suffered. But while with the kidnappers, we noticed that they didn’t have food in the bush. They only gave us pawpaw and garri to drink. It was like hell.”

Asked how much was paid for her release, Mrs. Audu said she would not know as she was not privy to the negotiations and the exact sum paid for her release. “I cannot say how much was paid because I have not discussed that with those who negotiated our release.”

Bothered by the spate of attacks and kidnappings on that axis, the Special Adviser to the governor on Security and Internal Affairs, Chief Joseph Har, promised that his office was putting machinery in place to storm the forests on that stretch with state security outfits to clear it of the bandits who have turned the area to their haven.

Chief Har said: “By next week, all our state established security outfits, including myself, will relocate to Naka Road and the surrounding forests which have become the epicenter of kidnappings, to comb the nooks and crannies for the criminal elements operating on that axis.”

On his part, the Benue State Police Commissioner, Mr. George Chuku, who acknowledged the dire situation on that stretch of road said: “I have said Naka Road is one of our dark spots and it is a flash point and we have been doing something about it.

“Since I assumed duties here, we have been carrying out operations there and it is yielding results. I want to assure you that we will keep doing the operations and we have mapped out all our strategies on how we will police all the dark spots and flash points and Naka is one of them. You can be rest assured that we will try our very best to ensure the road is safe for travelers.”