Military gives militia December decline to vacate Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa

Authorities of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) have given all militia groups terrorising residents of Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa states up till December to vacate the states or risk forcible eviction.

The military operation is responsible for maintaining peace and order in the three states currently facing threats of insurgency.

The commander of the military operation, Maj.-Gen. Adeyemi Yekini, announced the deadline when he addressed reporters yesterday in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.

Yekini said insurgents still hiding in areas currently inaccessible in the three states due to rough terrain would be flushed out before December.

According to him, the rains and the bad roads have halted military advances into the hinterlands where pockets of the insurgents are still hiding.

He assured the residents that with the dry season fast approaching, there would be no limits to advances and attacks on the insurgents.

Yekini said: “So far, we have facilitated 150,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their homes in Benue State.”

The commander also assured the people that the IDPs would be protected in their villages.

He said that the herdsmen militia and other militia groups in the state, especially the Gana gang, must vacate the states or risk forceful eviction.

Yekini attributed the delay in the return of some IDPs to their homes to security and socio-economic challenges.

The commander urged state governments to support efforts to resettle the displaced persons.

He said: “It’s not because of security challenges alone that IDPs are not returning home. People are there as economic IDPs because the resources to actually go back on their own without some form of assistance are not available to them.

“So, I think that the state government should be looking at the model that was adopted by Nasarawa State whereby when the people were going back home, the government provided some seedlings.

“The government also gave them building materials, and even cash, to enable them go back home.

“Even those who have returned home, many of them still return to the camps to eat in the day time.

“They’re not permanently in the camp; many of them are just there because of lack of resources for them to return to their homes and not because of security.”

Yekini confirmed the killing of the wife of Gana and 12 members of his gang, saying the operation had neutralised at least 100 criminal elements in the state.