A crack military team of Operation Whirl Stroke operating in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States has arrested 10 suspects involved in kidnapping and other crimes.
The Theatre Commander of the operation, Major General Adeyemi Yekini, paraded the suspects on Wednesday at the OPWS Headquarters in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
He explained that six suspected kidnappers and cattle rustlers were arrested from Nasarawa State and four suspected militia members, including a weapon manufacturer from Benue.
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Yekini added that the troops recovered five assorted weapons and 12 others at various stages of manufacturing from the suspects.
He identified one Saidu Mohammed, a suspected herdsman leading a gang of rustlers with over 2,000 stolen herds of cattle and the kidnapping of herdsmen for ransom in Niger, Nasarawa, Kogi and parts of the Federal Capital Territory.
According to the theater commander, one of Mohammed’s victims who broke loose during the exchange of a N2.5 million ransom, testified against the suspect said to have relocated to Nasarawa State.
He said two of the members of wanted militia leader, Terwase Akwaza, were arrested with the illegal weapon manufacturer who owns a factory with over 50 weapons sold out.
