Force Commander Operation Whirl Stroke, OPWS, Major General Adeyemi Yekini, has appealed to Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, in Benue State to return home as their communities are now safe and rid of herdsmen.
Yekini stated this, on Monday, during a media tour of some of the villages in Benue and Nasarawa states.
Major General Yekini also said so far, 235,000 IDPs have returned to their ancestral homes in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states following the takeoff of Operation 777, an offshoot of OPWS, two months ago.
He further explained that in Benue alone, over 200,000 persons had returned home after the security intervention in their communities.
He therefore encouraged the IDPs still at the camp to return home to a peaceful environment pledging the commitment and readiness of the troops of the OPWS to sustain patrol of the affected areas to give the returning IDPs a sense of security.
“More than 200, 000, have returned from Benue alone, 15,000 in Nasarawa and 10,000 in Taraba.
“What we have done is to establish patrol bases to be able to cover all areas as much as possible from where troops go out on daily basis to cover all flash points.
“But people are largely afraid to return home. Of course, people who have seen war will always be afraid but we will continue to try our best,” he said.
Yekini also disclosed that OPWS had recently deployed more troupes to some areas considered as flash points to further strengthen the security in those areas and encourage more IDPs to return home.
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In some of the council wards visited during the Media tour; Mabai, Mbadwen, Mbaye Yandav, Nyiev and Mbawa all in Guma local government area of Benue, community leaders commended the effort of the OPWS saying it has brought peace in their various communities.
The leaders, including a former President, Customary Court, Justice Augustine Utsaha and the kindred head of Mbadwen, Chief Abu Ajir, commended the federal and state government as well as the security agencies for restoring security to their area.
They also called on the federal and state governments to increase security presence in the communities and repair bad access roads and bridges destroyed by the herdsmen during the crisis.