More than 10 youths were injured and taken to the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, following Tuesday’s attack on the convoy of the Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
The youths were reportedly receiving treatment at the hospital after suspected thugs attacked Obi’s convoy along the Gboko-Makurdi Expressway, preventing the presidential candidate from proceeding to Yelwata in Guma Local Government Area.
Obi was heading to Yelwata to sympathise with victims of the June 13, 2025, terrorist attack when the incident occurred.
The NDC presidential candidate subsequently accused the Special Assistant to Governor Hyacinth Alia on Youths of masterminding the attack and mobilising youths to block his movement.
Obi had arrived in Makurdi, the state capital, earlier on Tuesday and was on his way to Yelwata when the convoy came under attack.
A BSUTH official, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Wednesday, confirmed that more than 10 wounded youths were brought to the hospital for urgent medical attention.
“Over 10 wounded victims were brought in here yesterday for urgent medical attention. They are being treated. I don’t know where they came from. We don’t know whether they were involved in Peter Obi’s incident yesterday or not.
“What we know is that they are accident victims and they are being treated. They are responding to treatment and none of them died,” the official said.
Efforts to obtain an official confirmation from the chief medical director of BSUTH, Dr Stephen Hwande, were unsuccessful as he did not respond to calls put through to his telephone.
However, the NDC Benue State publicity secretary, Agile-Bem Jabez Ordedoo, claimed in a statement on Wednesday that one of the alleged attackers had died while receiving treatment at the hospital.
“We regret to announce to you that one amongst the young men sponsored to attack the Presidential and Governorship candidates of NDC has passed on this morning at teaching hospital, Makurdi,” Ordedoo said.
He added that the deceased had been deposited at the mortuary, while others remained critically ill at the hospital’s emergency ward.
The NDC spokesperson further claimed that the parents of some of the injured youths were yet to arrive, delaying the commencement of their treatment.
The Benue State Police Command spokesperson, DSP Peter Orchia Aondongu, was not reachable for comment as of the time of filing this report.
The circumstances surrounding the injuries and the alleged death could not be independently confirmed at the time of filing this report.
