Attacks: Benue communities commend troops over restoration of peace

From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke have received commendation from Benue communities for restoring peace to their areas.
The commendation was made yesterday during an assessment tour of Guma local government area, home country of Governor Samuel Ortom by Commander of the Operation Maj. Gen. Adeyemi Yekini.
The communities visited include, Daudu, Mbadwen, Mbaye, Nyiev, Umenger, Ukpam, Udei and Yogbo.
The district heads including Chief Bernard Shawa of Mbadwen, Oliver Chado, Daudu and Abua Aji of Umenger, all expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for deploying the troop to their domain, noting that they have performed well in restoring peace to their areas that came under heavy attack from armed herdsmen.
While intimating that most of the internally displaced persons are gradually returning home and engaging in farming activities, they however, implored the President to deploy more troops to cover the nooks and crannies of the local government council to forestall any unforeseen attack.
“There are many areas that the security men cannot go because the bridges have been destroyed. There are still fears especially amongst those living at the border with Nasarawa state. So, we appeal for more deployment of soldiers to cover all areas. And we also, appeal that to Federal and State governments to assist us in ensuring that the remaining IDPs in camps return home”, Chief Chado passionately appealed.
Speaking with newsmen during the tour which saw the entourage visit Keana and Giza in Nasarawa State, Force Commander Maj. Gen. Adeyemi Yekini disclosed that over 235, 000 persons had returned home following security intervention in their communities.
Gen. Yekini also gave the figure of those who had returned in Nasarawa and Taraba states as 15,000 and 10,000, respectively, stressing that as at now, the whole Joint Operation Area, JOA has been largely cleared of armed herdsmen.
Also speaking, Commander, Sector 1, covering Guma local government area, Squadron Leader Victor Ajeye, disclosed that 141,864 IDPs had so far returned home in five council wards of Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.