The Benue State Police Command has arrested two suspected bandits with illegal cache of live ammunition found in their possession.
The suspects Usman Saleh and Ibrahim Alhaji were arrested in Benue State while on their way to Nassarawa state where they reside.
They were arrested by men of Operation Zenda in a commercial vehicle during stop and search operation at a security check point along Makurdi – Gboko express road.
Our correspondent gathered that Saleh, and Ibrahim who both reside in Awe, in Nassarawa state, a neighbouring community to Benue, were arrested while attempting to escape after operatives of Operation Zenda discovered rounds of live AK rifle ammunition in their possession.
The suspects have been moved to Makurdi for interrogation.
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The state Police Public Relation Officer, PPRO, DSP Catherine Anene, when contacted on phone, confirmed the incident but said she has not gotten the full details as at the time of filing this report.
It will be recalled that about five local government areas of the state were attacked in the wake of the 2018 New Year celebration.
With less a few days left to 2020 New Year celebration, there are concerns, especially from farmers and other villagers, that security be beefed up to forestall possible attacks since this is the time of the year when herders graze into the Benue Valley with their cattle.
Recently too, Governor Samuel Ortom, State chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN), Rev Akpen Leva and other stakeholders had appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to extend the tenure of Operation Whirl stroke, OPWS, in Benue, to enable them protect lives and properties in the state.
The PPRO however, has assured that the state Commissioner of Police, CP Garba Mukkadas had before the yuletide deployed increased number of officers and men to various parts of the state to ensure adequate security of life and property across the state.