Troops on alert over attacks

Troops of the Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) security task force in Benue State have been placed on red alert to prevent any attack on rural communities in crisis-prone areas of the state.
The Commander of OPWS, Major General Adeyemi Yekini, said in Makurdi late Thursday that the troops had intensified patrols within the areas to prevent further killings.
Yekini said similar surveillance had been extended to border areas between Benue and Nasarawa states to check armed banditry.
He said the alleged sporadic exchange of gunfire between troops and people suspected to be herders on Thursday was a rumour, adding however that a few herders that were sighted by troops in a community in Guma Local Government Area took to their heels. The commander noted troops encounter such criminal elements almost daily.