Family accuses soldiers of ‘torturing 35-year-old man to death’ in Benue

The family of Ernest Owoicho, a 35-year-old man, has accused troops of Operation Whirl Stroke in Benue State of torturing their loved one to death in Ugbokpo community of Apa LGA.

Ernest, a nurse, was said to have been arrested by soldiers at his residence in Ugbokpo on Saturday, April 5, 2025, and was confirmed dead barely 24 hours later.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Nelson Owoicho, brother to the deceased, told TheCable that Ernest called him via the telephone around 1:54 pm on Saturday and said soldiers were at his house to beat him up.

Nelson said the first phone call lasted 37 seconds, and that his late brother called again two minutes later, saying the soldiers had not told him what he had done wrong and were taking him away.

That was the last conversation between the two brothers.

Some minutes later, Nelson called his brother, but he did not respond to the telephone call.

Nelson said some hours later, the family got a report that the soldiers allegedly took Ernest to Elu Lodge, a temporary shelter for troops of Operation Whirl Stroke posted to the community.

He alleged that when the soldiers took Ernest, a father of two, to Elu Lodge, they tortured him for hours.

He added that the family contacted Adams Ochega, the Apa LG chairman, and other officials to secure Ernest’s release, but all efforts proved abortive.

Nelson said around 5 pm on Saturday, he got another report that his late brother collapsed at the military detention and was taken to the hospital in the community.

“I sent people to find out the hospital he was taken to. They went to all the hospitals in Ugbokpo to search for him, but it did not yield any results,” he said.

“On the same day, we got another information that his body had been deposited at the Apa General Hospital.

“We sent someone to the hospital to confirm that. There was no positive result. At the morgue, we were told that the name of the body deposited was one Victor Otache and that is not the name of our brother. So we relaxed a little bit.”

Nelson said on the next day, the family members started receiving phone calls that Ernest “died in military detention”.

Nelson said after getting the news of the death of Ernest, the family members went to the Elu Lodge to ask the military personnel about the whereabouts of their loved one.

He said the family received “no concrete response” at the military base, but the personnel instructed them to return at noon on the same day.

“Afterwards, tension rose in the town. Young men blocked the major roads to protest. The LGA chairman and the people decided to identify the corpse deposited in the morgue on Saturday,” Nelson said.

“When we saw the corpse at the morgue, his body was severely beaten from the head to the entire body. The body deposited as Victor Otache was confirmed to be Ernest Owoicho.

“He was brutalised until he died. The information that we got revealed that he died within 45 minutes of his arrest on Saturday.”

Nelson said the deceased’s family has been asking the military authorities in the state to reveal the alleged crime of Ernest that led to the arrest.

Onyema Nwachukwu, the army spokesperson, is yet to respond to calls and SMS about the incident.