Former Secretary to the Benue State Government, Professor David Salifu, has died from gunshot wounds sustained during an attack by suspected gunmen along the Wukari to Joota Road in Katsina Ala Local Government Area.

Salifu, a Professor of Public Administration and former Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Federal University Wukari, was reportedly travelling to Makurdi for his uncle’s burial when his vehicle was attacked on the border corridor linking Benue and Taraba states.

He was shot in the stomach and first taken to a hospital in Wukari, where surgeons removed bullets from his abdomen. He was later referred to the Federal Medical Centre in Makurdi for further treatment but died around midnight on Thursday.

A former aide to the late professor, Ben Ekah, said Salifu had just left the Federal University Wukari with his driver when the attackers intercepted the vehicle.

According to Ekah, the gunmen dragged Salifu out of the car and appeared to be attempting to abduct him before one of them shot him at close range. The attackers then fled, leaving him critically injured.

Ekah described the deceased as humble, peaceful and devoted to scholarship and public service. He said Salifu had excused himself from an ongoing Senate meeting at the university to attend the family burial in Benue.

Colleagues, relatives and associates have been left devastated by the killing, which again draws attention to insecurity along border routes and rural highways in parts of the North Central region.

Efforts to obtain an official response from the Benue State Police Command were unsuccessful at the time of the report.