A police inspector, Ogbu Clement, and his elder brother, Isawa Ogbu, have been arrested for allegedly mobilising more than 50 youths to seize a corpse and launch an attack on residents in Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State.
Details of the incident were shared on Sunday in a post on X by a security analyst, Zagazola Makama.
According to him, the crisis started on November 28 when a Benue State University Teaching Hospital staff, Dr. Pius Onwe Odengle, was conveying the remains of his late mother, Mama Lucy Inogwanya, from Makurdi to Ogyoma Village for burial.
He alleged that at the Ogyoma Village junction, Insp. Clement, who is attached to Zone 7 Headquarters in Abuja, blocked the road alongside a group of youths from Adim Village.
They reportedly damaged a Benue State Civil Protection Guard vehicle, forcefully took custody of the corpse and buried it in Adim Village, claiming the deceased was their aunty.
Sources said the following morning, at about 9:30 a.m., the inspector and his brother returned with another group of youths to Ogyoma, where they allegedly attacked residents, vandalised over 500 plastic chairs, smashed windows and doors, and injured several villagers.
Police authorities said the Divisional Police Officer in Otukpo acted swiftly by deploying patrol teams to the scene, supported by troops of Operation Whirl Stroke, NSCDC Agro-Rangers and the Benue State Civil Protection Guard.
Photographs of the damaged property were taken as evidence, while the injured villagers were evacuated to the hospital for treatment.
The police confirmed that Insp. Ogbu Clement and his brother have been taken into custody as investigations into the matter continue.