April 17, (THEWILL) – The Chief of Training and Operations, Defence Headquarters, Maj.-Gen Adeyemi Yekini, says the military will not rest until the killers of villagers at Tiortyu, a community in Tarka Local Government Area of Benue, are apprehended.
THEWILL reports that Tiortyu village, situated along Makurdi-Gboko highway, was attacked last Sunday by gunmen, killing Scores residents.
Yekini, who served as the first Commander of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), said he was at Tiortyu to commiserate with the residents of the village over the killings.
Speaking to journalists, he assured the public that those who carried out the heinous crime would be apprehended and served justice.
He was accompanied by the Commander, Operation Whirl Stroke, Maj.-Gen Kevin Aligbe and other top officers of the unit.
Yekini regretted the attack, but assured the people that no stone would be left unturned until the perpetrators were brought to justice.
He described the perpetrators as bandits and said it was premature to conclude they were herders.
“I’m here on the authority of the Chief of Defence Staff. He directed a team led by me to come here and find out what happened. I understand that 15 people or thereabout were killed in this community (Tiortyu). But as to who and who is responsible is not too clear to me.
“But whichever group is responsible, will be tracked down and neutralised accordingly.
“The Chief of Defence Staff has given me the directive, and I have passed the directive to the Commander of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), to find those who were responsible for the attack, track them down and bring them to justice – swift, fast justice. That’s why I’m here”, he said.
General Yekini, who visited the scenes of recent attacks in Tiortyu community of Tarka LGA as well as Tse-Semaka in Guma LGA in company with the OPWS Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Kevin Aligbe as well as the Security Adviser to Governor Samuel Ortom, Lt. Col. Paul Hemba (rtd) noted that the Defence Headquarters is exploring all options to ensure that masterminds of the dastardly act were soon brought to justice.
“All options are open. Our intelligence unit is working on it. But judging from my knowledge and work experience here, as I have said, I worked here for three good years, and I can speak from experience. But like I said, our intelligence unit is working on it to unmask those who were responsible for the attack. And we will go after them decisively.
“To a large extent, we can say that there’s relative peace in Benue. Of course, there’s still occasional attacks by bandits and all that, but when you look at the overall security situation in Benue, one can say there’s relative peace in the state. However, there’s still a need for improvement.
“Troops are re-strategising, they’re reviewing their tactics and their deployments, and they are taking all other measures that I cannot mention here to ensure that we put a permanent end to this kind of killing.
“Some few criminals cannot hold Nigerians to ransom. The instruction is clear: track them down and kill them. The President has made it clear that anybody found with weapons should be killed and that instruction has been passed to me and I have passed the same to the operations commanders to unmask these people and bring them to swift justice”, Yekini said.
In an earlier address to the community leaders, the army chief appealed to the residents to return to their homes and resume their normal business activities.
He assured them that no such attacks would be repeated in the area but advised them to report all suspicious movements to the security agents.
Also speaking, Aligbe said that the military would do its best to ensure those behind the attacks were found and advised them to report all suspected people to security personnel.
Responding, the District Head of Shitile community in Tiortyu, Chief Sebastine Hule, thanked the military delegation for finding time to visit his community.
He said with the assurances from the Defence Headquarters, the fleeing residents would return home.
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