The Nigerian Army has paraded another suspected killer herdsman terrorizing Benue State and it’s neighboring towns.
The Commander of the Nigerian Army 72 Special Forces Battalion, Lt. Col. Suleiman Muhammad said the suspect named Idi Gemu was arrested in Guma Local Government Area.
The capture of Gemu, whose AK 47 has also been seized by troops, brings to four the number of killer herdsmen captured in the area in the past five days.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that many communities in the Tiv speaking areas, including Guma Local Government Area, have seen repeated attacks by herdsmen in recent times.
Hundreds of people, especially farmers have been losing their lives to recurring herdsmen attacks in communities in North Central Nigeria in recent years.
The development compounds the problem in Africa’s most populous nation, which has been fighting an Islamic insurgency since 2009.
The Commander of 72 Special Forces Battalion, Suleiman Mohammed, told reporters on Wednesday in Makurdi that Gemu was captured on May 1.
Mohammed said the three other killer herdsmen were also captured in the Guma Local Government Area on April 26 and that their capture led to the capture of Mr Gemu.
He said that troops were doing “everything possible” to safeguard lives and property in Benue, advising residents of the state to provide useful information to security agencies.
But in an interview with newsmen, Gemu said that the Ak 47 rifle recovered from him did not belong to him, saying that the gun belonged to one of his friends, who fled when troops swooped on them.
Mr Gemu claimed that he was sleeping when the soldiers came and that his friend fled after he sighted the troops. He said that he decided to keep the gun for the friend but was arrested with the gun by the troops.
