Troops neutralise 1000 bandits, recover 700 weapons in 3yrs

Over 1,000 bandits have been neutralised by troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) operating in three states of Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba within the past three years. Force Commander of OPWS, Major General Adeyemi Yekini, made the disclosure on Tuesday while conducting newsmen in Makurdi around the site where the Benue State governor was attacked […]

Over 1,000 bandits have been neutralised by troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) operating in three states of Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba within the past three years.

Force Commander of OPWS, Major General Adeyemi Yekini, made the disclosure on Tuesday while conducting newsmen in Makurdi around the site where the Benue State governor was attacked on Saturday by gunmen.

Yekini said that the coming of the security formation to Benue had improved security to a large extent, noting that notorious criminal elements in Sankera axis of the state had also been neutralised.

He explained that most of the bandits neutralised and weapons recovered were from Benue State.

“We have recovered close to 700 weapons with a good number of the weapons recovered in Benue alone. Over 1000 bandits have been neutralized with over 50 weapons recovered this year alone in Benue,” he said.

Yekini noted that the food basket of the nation remains within the triangle of Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states, adding that his troops have made tremendous progress to ensure the people continue to go to their farms and produce food.

The Force Commander while answering questions from journalists on the insecurity in Sankera, appealed to residents to volunteer information about bandits’ hideouts for necessary action, pointing out that refusal to provide useful information had been their challenge.

“In Katsina-Ala, since the killing of Gana and the top 10 boys of Gana, there have been relative peace. The major problem we are having there is the conspiracy of silence from the people of Sankera,” he said.