Troops destroy herdsmen militia camp in Benue/Nasarawa border

From: Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

Troops of the Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), covering Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states, on early hours yesterday, trailed a group of armed herdsmen to their camp close to the boundary between Benue and Nasarawa States killing two of them.
The troop also recovered two(2) AK47 riffles with 25 rounds of 7.62 special ammunition from the herdsmen.
It was learnt from a local who identified himself as Torkuma Jande that the armed herdsmen had earlier on Wednesday, invaded Tse- Torkula Community in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State injuring two people before the troops of the OPWS were alerted.
According to Torkuma Jande, the invaders had stormed the community at about 6pm shooting sporadically in all directions before being repelled by other security forces stationed around the area.
“It was about 6pm on Wednesday evening that we suddenly started hearing sounds of gunshots around our community. Some of the security forces around the area were alerted and they immediately moved towards the direction of the shots and pushed back the attackers.
“We also, alerted troops of the OPWS who are stationed at neighbouring Umenger and Ukaa communities but before they could reach there, the herdsmen had fled back to their camp located towards Nasarawa State.
“I believe the troops of OPWS were not satisfied with the incident and they decided to go after the herdsmen searching for them till early hours of this morning when they stormed into their camp near the Benue/Nasarawa boundary in Keana”, Jande said.
Another villager living close to the area who ran to Umenger for safety, Mrs. Dorcas Mdzer said she sighted the soldiers destroying the camp of the armed herdsmen and burning everything in sight.
Mrs. Mdzer who ran from the affected community to Umenger village said she was preparing for evening meal for her family when she heard gunshots close to their house.
“On looking closely, I saw some soldiers exchanging gunfire with some herdsmen who had built tents in our village. When the sounds of gunshots became too intense, I gathered my children and ran towards Umenger.