Herdsman (photo credit: BBC)
The Acting Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General John Agim has disclosed that a total of 35 herdsmen terrorising Benue State were killed at the weekend.
In a statement, Agim said a suspected bandit, one Adamu Abdullah, was also arrested in Nasarawa with deadly ammunition.
The statement reads:”Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) operating in Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Zamfara states conducted a four prong clearance operations during the weekend.
“At Umaisha and Toto Villages, troops ambushed the militia following a tipoff of a planned attack on the two villages.
“On the ensuing melee 1 x G3 rifle, 193 x 17.62 mm NATO, 81xG3 rifle ammunition, a locally made pistol and 1 FN magazine filled with round were recovered and one militia was killed.
“In another development, one Adamu Abdullahi, a suspected herdsman at Rukubi in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa state was arrested in possession of an ID card of the vigilante group of Nigeria, Nasarawa state command and a photograph in which he posed with an AK47 rifle.
“The suspect is still under interrogation and will be handed over to the police for prosecution after preliminary investigation.
“Similarly, clearance operation across Gwer West, Logo and Guma LGA’s of Benue State was conducted during the weekend. Troops made contact with heavily armed herdsmen around lower Benue and a militia camp at chetarer village. The troops engaged the militia and followed the pursuit with M135 Helicopter of their air component. This led to a large member of them being neutralized. In all, 35 herdsmen were neutralized and a large number of them escaped with gunshot injuries.
“However, a soldier was killed in action (KIA), 2 sustained slight injuries but have been treated and discharged. Also, 1 soldier is still missing in action.”