Gunmen Attack Cashew Farmers In Kogi Community, Kill 2

Armed men suspected to be bandits have reportedly killed two cashew farmers in Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State in a separate attack over the weekend.

Reports from the area noted that one Gideon Etsu, a Nupe by tribe and cleric from Akpata’aje in Ejiba community, was shot and killed on his cashew farm on Sunday.

According to the locals, the incident happened on Sunday afternoon, February 22, 2026, when the cleric went to his cashew farm on the outskirts of the community.

“Pastor Gideon Etsu, a community leader and secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Ejiba, was murdered on his cashew farm on Sunday afternoon.

“His attackers were suspected to be armed bandits operating within the forests around the communities.

“His locally made gun was destroyed during the attack, and his assailants left his lifeless body severely mutilated before fleeing the scene,” said a resident of the community who simply wants to be identified as John.

Another victim, identified as Joseph Jones, a native of Odo-Eri, reportedly fell under his assailants’ bullets in the same circumstances on Saturday while returning from his cashew farm.

The fate of his companion, said to have gone missing since the incident, is still unknown.

According to the residents, the deaths of Pastor Gideon Etsu and Jones have increased the number of cashew farmers reportedly attacked in Yagba West in recent days to about six, raising fresh concerns over the deteriorating security situation in the farming communities.

However, the Chairman of Yagba West Local Government Area and Chairman of the Kogi State Chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Hon. Tosin Olokun, has expressed deep sorrow over the tragic incidents.

“The chairman extends heartfelt condolences to the families of late Joseph Jones, an indigene of Odo Ere community who was killed on Saturday, 21 February 2026, while picking cashew nuts along Saminaka Road axis in Odo Eri, and Pastor Gideon Etsu, who lost his life on Sunday, 22 February 2026, in his cashew farm in Ejiba along Omi Road.

“Hon. Olokun shares in the grief of the bereaved families and prays for divine comfort, strength and fortitude for all those affected by these painful and unfortunate incidents,” the chairman said in a statement signed by Adeyemi Babarinde Sunday, the spokesman of the LGA.

Meanwhile, the chairman has advised all cashew farmers and other agricultural operators to avoid accessing farms, particularly in remote or isolated areas, without adequate security presence.

He said the precautionary directive is aimed at safeguarding lives and minimising exposure to criminal threats,  urging strict compliance in the interest of personal and community safety.

Efforts to get a response from the police authorities over the development were unsuccessful as the police spokesperson, ASP Saliu Oyiza Afusat, could not be reached on the cellphone at the time of filing this report. (Daily trust)