Finally, Buhari deploys soldiers in Benue, Kaduna, others

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the deployment of troops to six states across the restive north-central, the Nigerian Army announced Wednesday.

David Ahmadu, head of training and operations at the Nigerian Army Headquarters in Abuja, said during a press briefing Wednesday afternoon that troops would be sent to the streets across the region in exercise ‘Ayem Akpatuma’ or ‘Cat Race’ when literally translated from Tiv, a major tribe in the north-central.

While the Army did not disclose the size of the deployment, the operations will be carried in Benue, Taraba, Kaduna, Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger.

The states have endured a rise in armed banditry, kidnapping and cattle rustling — in states like Kaduna and Niger — and herdsmen-farmers clashes and attacks on communities — as recently reported in Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa States — by armed militia.

The deployment is also aimed at effectively checkmating the dreadful activities of the “militias” perpetrating criminal acts in these states and its environs, Mr. Ahmadu said at the briefing.