Herdsmen arrested with AK-47 rifles, live ammunition in Benue

By Vera Enenche

The Nigerian Army has arrested five men at Tse-Dum, in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.

The men, John Yobeh, Person Nyaku, Agbo Kume, Thomas Adum and Faaga Uereyev, were reportedly arrested with two AK-47 rifles and live ammunition.

The Commandant, 72 Special Forces Battalion, Makurdi, Lt. Col. Suleiman Mohammed, who paraded the men on Tuesday, said troops arrested the militia during a raid.

“In our offensive operations against criminals in Benue State, our people carried out a raid on a community in Mbawa council ward in Guma and arrested the suspects.

“We want to assure the people of the state that we will live up to our responsibility in the protection of lives and property,” he said.

One of the suspects, Adum, said suspected Fulani herdsmen had attacked their community and killed one person.

He added that he and other suspects had traced the assailants and recovered the victim’s body when they were arrested by the army.

Adum said the community procured the guns for them for self defence.

“Our community put money together to purchase the guns for us because Fulani herdsmen were killing us on a daily basis,’’ he said.