Army uncovers another sponsor of Benue killings

The Nigerian Army in Benue has made a number of arrest if violent herdsmen between last Saturday and Wednesday, and all of them came from the same sponsor.

But Commandant, 72 Special Forces Battalion, Makurdi, Lt. Col. Suleiman Mohammed, would not get into details for now.

He said this Wednesday while parading one herdsman identified as Idi Gemu was arrested within the Guma axis on Tuesday.

The suspect with AK-47 was arrested by troops on operation.
The commandant had on Saturday paraded three herdsmen who were planning to launch a fresh attack on Guma communities.

He said that investigation showed that all the suspects arrested so far were from the same source.

Last week, one of the sponsors the Army promised it would hunt down was arrested.

Aliyu Teshaku, the head of Livestovk Guard in Benue, was said to have masterminded the January 1 killing in two LGAs in the state.

The suspect, an aide to Gov. Samuel Ortom, was a Boko Haram suspect arrested and released in 2011.

He has however denied involvement, saying he is being persecuted for helping Ortom implement the anti-open grazing law against Fulani herdsmen.

The Wednesday suspect said many Fulani herdsmen have left the state since the implementation of the law.

Gemu said he came from Adundu, Obi LGA, Nasarawa, to look for his missing sheep in Guma.

His host, a Fulani herdsman who fled before dawn, owned the gun, he said.