The Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has called for a thorough probe into the killing of the association’s Benue State Chairman, Alhaji Ardo Risku, insisting that those responsible must be identified and made to face the full weight of the law.

Risku was ambushed and shot dead on June 26, 2026, at Okudu village in Otukpo Local Government Area, barely an hour after attending a security meeting convened by the Ohimini Local Government authorities to address the deteriorating security situation in the area. His associate, identified as Yakubu Isa, was also killed in the attack. MACBAN described the timing as deeply suspicious, saying the circumstances surrounding the killing raised serious concerns about possible premeditation, noting that Risku had gone to the meeting precisely to advance the cause of peace.

In a statement signed by MACBAN’s National President, Baba Othman Ngelzarma, the Sultan described the late chairman as a man who dedicated his life to building bridges between pastoralist and farming communities.

“The late Alhaji Ardo Risku dedicated his life to building bridges across communities. The most fitting tribute to his memory is for all of us to uphold the values of peace, restraint, dialogue, and mutual respect that he lived and worked for,” Abubakar III said. He urged residents of Benue State and the wider public to remain calm, resist the urge for reprisals, and allow the legal process to take its course, warning that “no grievance should be allowed to undermine public peace or ignite further violence.”

The condemnations came swiftly and from multiple levels of government. Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia described the killing as a direct assault on the peace his administration had worked tirelessly to build, saying it was especially painful given that security across several local government areas in the state had been showing measurable improvement.

He directed security agencies to launch an immediate investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice. The state’s Commissioner of Police, Cletus Nwadiogbu, confirmed that a full-scale investigation had already been launched, with tactical and intelligence assets deployed to track down the assailants along the Okwudu-Ogoli Road axis where the attack occurred.

The Federal Government also weighed in, with Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume himself a former governor of Benue State describing the act as “reprehensible, unacceptable and a direct assault on the peace, reconciliation and mutual trust that communities across Benue State have worked painstakingly to rebuild.”

Akume called on the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services to leave no stone unturned in identifying and prosecuting everyone connected to the crime, drawing a parallel with the Yelewata killings in which suspects were eventually apprehended and are currently standing trial.

The killing has sent a chilling signal through a state still working to heal from years of deadly farmer-herder conflict. That a man who spent his life mediating between communities was gunned down on his way home from a peace meeting has deepened the sense of grief and urgency around the investigation. Police have since announced the arrest of 10 suspects in connection with the murder.