Gunmen attacked one of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirants in Benue in the 2023 race, Terwase Orbunde, on Friday and abducted his wife and house help, the police declared on Saturday.

Mr Orbunde, chief of staff to erstwhile Gov. Samuel Ortom, escaped with a gunshot wound to his right arm in the attack.

Police spokesperson in Benue, SP Sewuese Anene, told journalists that the gunmen attacked Orbunde and members of his household in the Benue capital as they were returning from the farm.

She said Orbunde reported the attack to the police which despatched a team of detectives to the scene of the assault and recovered the politician’s car.

Ms Anene assured that the assailants would be tracked and arrested and the abducted freed.

Witnesses said Mr Orbunde, his wife and the house help had gone to inspect the weeding of their farm located close to the road.

After paying the workers, five gunmen attacked them and ordered their victims to follow them to an unknown destination, but discarded bleeding Mr Orbunde, who was too slow to keep pace.

The gunshot caused villagers and passers-by to scamper to safety in different directions, the witnesses said.

A family source told journalists that the assailants demanded a N100 million ransom on Saturday for the release of the two women abducted.

(NAN)