Extrajudicial Killings: How police’s Operation Zenda became dreaded by Benue residents

Tse Angaador is a farming community about 182 kilometres from Makurdi, the Benue State capital. With an estimated population of about 3,000 residents, the village is in the Gaambe Tiev district of the Logo Local Government Area. The road linking it to the outside world is a narrow red earth track that cuts through cassava and yam fields.

In the early morning of 27 July 2024, the village’s men were concluding the Imôngu, an all-night Tiv traditional funeral rite. The ceremony was being held for Kumawuese Bam, a secondary schoolgirl who had died after an illness. The event was held in front of the bereaved family’s home.

Polycarp Yaapera attended the vigil with his younger brother, Aondoakura, a 34-year-old father of three.

“All of a sudden, I heard gunshots. When I turned, it was the police. I turned back and saw my brother, who was sitting next to me, fall to the ground,” Polycarp said.

He recalled diving behind a mud wall, where he hid for about five minutes until the shooting stopped. From a distance, he saw bodies lying on the ground. His brother, Aondoakura, was among the seven mourners who died.

The gunmen were members of an elite police unit codenamed “Operation Zenda.” The state police command had established the unit in 2008 to tackle rising cases of kidnapping, communal clashes, and boundary disputes in the volatile North-central state. However, Benue residents interviewed by PREMIUM TIMES described the unit as a source of fear, alleging extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and violent raids.

A mother bereaved twice

The bereaved mother, Helen Bam, was inside her room with some sympathisers when they heard the gunshots.

“One of the police officers came to my door and kicked it open,” she said. “Other officers joined him, and they started searching everywhere.”

Mrs Bam alleged that the officers took the ₦32,000 cash they found in her room and a smartphone belonging to one of her daughters.

Her son, Lubem, also died in the raid.

“My husband died in 2015 and left me with five children,” she said, her sorrow still heavy, two years later. “Now Kumawuese is gone. Lubem is gone.”

After the burial of the two children, Mrs Bam said she suffered a health episode that required hospitalisation. When PREMIUM TIMES visited Tse Angaador in January 2026, she said she may never recover from the tragedy.

“I do not sleep at night,” she said. “Anytime I see police, I want to ask them to kill me too.”

Where were the bodies taken?

The community’s head, Mbaveluior Yaapera, said the police took the bodies away after the shooting. He alleged that Akegh Ernest, the commander of Operation Zenda, led the team.

“They loaded their bodies into a Hilux van and drove away. We were too afraid to follow,” he said.

An eyewitness

PREMIUM TIMES also spoke with a resident who said he witnessed the bodies being deposited at a private mortuary in Ugba.

The police Hilux carrying the bodies arrived at about 6 a.m., but officers allegedly prevented onlookers from approaching the bodies.

“When police kill armed bandits, they usually display the bodies at Y Junction in Ugba, the headquarters of Logo LGA, for the public to see before taking them to the general hospital,” the eyewitness, who requested anonymity for fear of being targeted, said. “But that morning was different. They drove straight to a private mortuary instead of the general hospital.”

PREMIUM TIMES visited the mortuary, but an official who requested anonymity said he was not allowed to speak about bodies.

Following the shootings, Mr Yaapera said the community contacted Solomon Wombo, its representative in the House of Representatives, and Benjamin Uzenda, the chairman of Logo Local Government Area at the time.

At a meeting in Anyiin, the council boss reportedly told community representatives that the police regretted the killings.

“We were told the killings were an error from the police,” he said. “But they said if we insisted on taking it up and there was an attack by armed herders in future, security would not come to assist us.”

Mr Wombo later provided ₦500,000 to support the burial of the seven men, according to Mr Yaapera.

PREMIUM TIMES made several attempts to reach Mr Wombo by phone, but he did not answer or return the calls. The newspaper also sent him a WhatsApp message asking whether, beyond providing ₦500,000 for the victims’ burial, he had followed up on the circumstances surrounding the killings, engaged the relevant authorities to seek accountability, or taken any steps to prevent similar incidents. The message was delivered, but he did not respond.

PREMIUM TIMES also reached out to Benjamin Uzenda, who was chairman of Logo Local Government Area at the time of the incident, by phone and identified the subject of the report. Mr Uzenda acknowledged the call and agreed to meet the reporter in person later that day to discuss the July 2024 killings and the steps he took following the incident. However, the proposed meeting did not take place, and subsequent calls to Mr Uzenda went unanswered.

The community said the remains of the victims were buried on 10 August 2024 in Tse Angaador. They were identified as Ordughga Tyoapine, Kater Tarpav, Yaapera Ternenge, Nater Setim, Ioryevese Tarpav, Bam Lubem and Yaapera Aondoakura.

Another raid

Six months before the killings in Tse Angaador, another community in Logo Local Government Area witnessed a similar security operation.

At about 10 a.m. on 12 January 2024, a team of police officers arrived in Tse Jikina, Mbavuur Ward, about 31 kilometres from Tse Angaador. Residents said Akegh Ernest, then a divisional police officer in Logo, now commander of Operation Zenda, led the team into the community in two Hilux vans.

According to a resident, Tornyor Orkile, the officers’ mission was to arrest his brother, Iorhom Orkile, an herbal practitioner they accused of supplying charms to armed bandits in the Sankera axis. The suspect, Iorhom, told PREMIUM TIMES that the officers searched his compound without presenting a warrant.

“I am a registered member of the Nigeria Union of Medical Herbal Practitioners. I have not had any contact with bandits, nor have I provided charms to them,” he said.

Residents alleged that the officers assaulted them during the incident. Terpase Mbai said he was hit with a rifle butt, while Mbakaan Mbai said he was ordered at gunpoint to lead the officers to Iorhom’s house.

During a visit in January 2026, PREMIUM TIMES counted 25 burnt and abandoned houses in Tse Jikina.

Zuamo Tornyor, a student at the University of Maiduguri, said his family home was among those destroyed.

Court documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES show that Tornyor Orkile filed a suit against the police, Operation Zenda and its commander, Akegh Ernest. The case was later struck out after the judge handling it was transferred. Mr Orkile said he was pressurised to drop the case.

Death under Zenda

On 16 May 2022, nearly two years before the police raid on Tse Jikina and the killings in Tse Angaador, two brothers, Emmanuel and Terna Chado, were in Tor Mkar Mbazerem, Shangev Tiev, in Konshisha Local Government Area to watch a football match. After the game, Terna left Emmanuel in Tor Mkar Mbazerem and returned to his residence in Awajir.

Later that night, Emmanuel heard that Terna had been arrested after a phone call directed him to report at the local police station. The family said the arrest followed police tracking of phone calls involving Terna and several people, including Tersoo Bukem and Aondoakaa Akaakaa.

The family never saw Terna alive again.

In court documents reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES, the police claimed that Terna died in custody. Their account was that on 17 May 2022, he was taken along to arrest a suspect, Mr Bukem, when a stray bullet struck him during an exchange of gunfire.

The police also told the court that Terna was buried on 19 May 2022.

Court awards ₦50m

Another brother, Charles Chado, subsequently filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit at the Federal High Court in Makurdi, accusing the police of extrajudicial execution of Terna.

In suit No. FHC/MKD/CS/147/2023, Charles sued the Commissioner of Police, Benue State Command, Justin Gberindyer (the then commander of Operation Zenda) and two others.

On 15 March 2024, Justice R. J. Egbe delivered judgement against the police and awarded the family ₦50 million in compensation.

However, the family said it has not received the compensation. “To date, the Nigeria Police have not paid one kobo to our family,” Emmanuel said.

Terna left behind a son. For the Chado family, the judgement established a violation of its son’s right to life but did not answer the central questions about his death, including where the alleged gunfire occurred and why he was buried without the family’s knowledge.

Arrested, not seen again

Unlike Terna Chado, whose death was later confirmed in court, the fate of Paul Achov remains officially unresolved.

According to Ukan Kurugh, a human rights activist handling the case, the 27-year-old was arrested at City Bay, a relaxation spot in Makurdi, on 2 August 2025. Mr Kurugh said a police situation report he obtained labelled Mr Achov as a member of a criminal gang allegedly terrorising the Makurdi-Lafia highway. However, no evidence or formal charge was presented to his family.

In October 2025, the lawyer said he petitioned the Force Headquarters in Abuja, the National Human Rights Commission, and the Police Service Commission. He later received information from a police source that Mr Achov had been killed, a claim the lawyer challenged the police to disprove by accounting for the missing man.

Mr Achov’s younger sister, Ruth, 22, said officers at the Daudu Police Station initially claimed that he was detained over a shooting incident. She said when their cousin later returned to the station with food, he was told Mr Achov was not there.

“If they have evidence, they should charge him to court. If he is innocent, they should clear his name,” she said.

Ruth, who said she and Paul were orphans, said she last saw him on the day of his arrest. She said her brother is a Philosophy graduate of Benue State University who returned to farming and crop trading after failing to secure formal employment.

The family’s demand is simple: produce Paul Achov alive, charge him if there is evidence against him, or account for what happened to him.

Death of Philip Kpentemen

According to a family member who requested anonymity for safety reasons, Fanen Kpentemen was arrested at his workplace in Makurdi on 20 September 2025, over a complaint by a woman, Fatima Ameh, that she was defrauded through his WhatsApp account.

Ankyo Moses, whom the family identified as an Operation Zenda operative, allegedly led the team that arrested Mr Kpentemen.

“Fanen was arrested on a Friday, and by Saturday he was dead,” the family member said.

However, in a 26 September press statement, the police spokesperson, Udeme Edet, stated that Mr Kpentamen was arrested as an armed robbery suspect and had led Operation Zenda officers to a hideout at Tse-Tamen settlement, Ugondu, Makurdi, where they recovered a locally made pistol and five cartridges.

According to the police, the suspect later attempted to escape but was rearrested by local youths who lynched him before officers intervened. He said the suspect was taken to the teaching hospital, where a doctor confirmed him dead.

The family disputes the police account, and his death remains surrounded by conflicting accounts, including allegations of torture and questions over why his family was not promptly informed of his death.

Another death in custody

On 11 January 2026, Tordue Shapila, 35, was arrested at his family home in Apir village, Makurdi. His father, Christopher Shapila, said armed men who identified themselves as police Operation Zenda officers broke into the compound around 4 a.m. and arrested him and another man, Stephen Achoon.

For weeks, the family said investigating officer Solomon Mnyim denied them access to him, even though they continued taking food to the facility and were assured that he was in good health.

On 4 March, his lawyers, Hanaze, Wendeh and Associates, filed an application before the Chief Magistrate Court in Makurdi seeking his release or arraignment. Two days later, the court ordered the police to release him on bail or produce him in court within 24 hours.

The police did neither.

On 18 March, a lawyer following up at the Benue State Police Command was told that Mr Shapila had died. The police said he had been taken to Gboko during police investigation and was killed in an exchange of gunfire after suspected associates attacked officers. His body was reportedly deposited at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital mortuary.

The family rejected the account.

In a petition dated 23 March, the family’s lawyers demanded an investigation, an independent autopsy, his body for burial and ₦5 billion in compensation. They also threatened legal action against the police and officers linked to Operation Zenda.

Zenda commander

Operation Zenda Commander Ernest Akegh, a superintendent of police, denied wrongdoing when presented with allegations surrounding the unit and earlier operations in Logo, including the July 2024 killing of seven men in Tse Angaador.

“I want to assure you that any work I do, I do it in line with the law,” he told PREMIUM TIMES, defending his own records at the unit.

Mr Akegh said when a suspect dies during police operations, autopsies are conducted to determine the cause of death. However, he declined to provide medical or autopsy reports relating to the cases raised by PREMIUM TIMES, directing the requests to the police commissioner or the command’s public relations officer.

Police state their position

When contacted, Benue police spokesperson Udeme Edet said she was not the police spokesperson at the time of the July 2024 operation in Tse Angaador that resulted in the death of the seven young men.

“That question you are asking me; I will not be able to answer it because I was not here on the seat. I was not the PPRO,” she said.

On the 2025 death of Philip Fanen, she said the Benue State Police Command stands by its earlier public statement absolving the police of any culpability.

“Police made an official report concerning the matter,” she said.

When asked whether an autopsy was conducted and if PREMIUM TIMES could obtain a copy of the autopsy report, she replied, “I will get back to you later.” She did not provide any further response on the topic.

The spokesperson was also asked about the disappearance of Paul Achov, who was arrested in August 2025 and has not been seen by his family since then. She did not answer the question. She set a time for this reporter to call for a response but did not return the call or subsequent calls.

Government defers responsibility

The Director-General of the Bureau of Homeland Security, Jacob Gbamwuan, said allegations of extrajudicial killings involving security agencies were too serious for the state government to determine without a formal investigation.

“These are heavy allegations,” he said. “There must be a committee. There must be a body that will sit down and come to a conclusion that this is what is happening.”

When asked whether the government was willing to set up an investigative committee to examine the allegations, Mr Gbamwuan said any complaints would first have to be formally submitted and handled through the appropriate channels.

“If our Benue people have such complaints, such complaints will be taken up officially,” he said. “The position of such a committee will be the position that the government will adopt.”

He added that Operation Zenda operates under the Nigeria Police Force, which he said would be responsible for setting up any such committee.

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“The police are even the ones who should set up that committee,” he said.

Lawyer demands accountability

Rommy Mom, a human rights lawyer and president of Lawyers Alert, said the allegations and other abuses must be investigated and those responsible sanctioned.

“When police officers carry out a wrong and go unpunished, it emboldens them to do worse,” he said.

Security funding

The Benue State Government has been spending more on internal security in recent years, as terrorism-related and other forms of violent criminality continue. The state allocated ₦9.27 billion to security in 2023, ₦12 billion in 2024 and proposed ₦15.60 billion for 2025.

As the government increases its security spending, questions persist over who is accountable for how those funds are used and whether the institutions funded to protect citizens are fulfilling that duty.

For families who say their loved ones were killed, disappeared, or died in police custody, the concern is that agencies funded to protect citizens do not become a source of fear and terror.

This report is with the support of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) under a journalism support initiative funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy.