Benue State Government on Monday said that 17 suspected criminals who kidnapped some youths along Wukari-Takum last Wednesday have been arrested.
Governor Samuel Ortom’s Special Adviser on Security, Col. Paul Hemba (retd), said that those who abducted the youth were loyalists of the late terrorist, Terwase Akwaza aka Gana.
Hemba who addressed journalists in his office in Makurdi said that the aim of the criminal elements was to trigger inter-communal crisis between the Tiv and Jukun.
The security adviser said that all the kidnap victims are all Jukuns from Taraba, adding that the youth were kept at Ajon, Igbudu and Tor Donga axis all in Katsina-Ala local government area of the state.
According to the Hemba: “The aim of the kidnapers was to trigger inter-communal crisis between the Tiv and Jukun tribes in that axis so that they can have a respite from the pressure on them from the security forces.”
He said that the combined team of troops of Operation Whirl Stroke, 72 Special Forces Battalion, 83 Battalion and Mobile Policemen from Takum rescued 19 out of the 23 abducted victims, adding that efforts were on for the remaining four.
He further explained that 17 of the suspects have been arrested.
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