Troops kill 4 armed herdsmen, recover 2 AK 47 in Benue

Nigerian troops on the march

Men of ‘Operation Whirl Stroke’ (OPWS), a special military taskforce, have killed four armed bandits, who allegedly attacked and killed two villagers in Guma Local Government area of Benue in the early hours of Tuesday.

This was contained in a statement issued by the OPWS Commander, Maj.-Gen. Adeyemi Yekini, on Tuesday in Makurdi.

The statement said that the armed bandits, who staged the overnight onslaught on the community, were chased and killed by the OPWS personnel on routine surveillance.

It added that the personnel, deployed to Tomatar, a border community between Benue and Nasarawa states, blocked the fleeing gunmen from escaping into Nasarawa state and neutralised them.

“At about 0600 hours, this morning (Tuesday), troops had contact with the armed herdsmen at a makeshift camp close to the Benue river.

“Four of the assailants were killed, while troops recovered two AK 47 riffles, four magazines and 65 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition from them.

“Our forces did not sustain any casualty during the operation. Troops are currently on search and destroy operation in the general area,” the statement said.