Police gun down four bandits in Benue

The Police in Benue State on Saturday gunned down four suspected notorious criminal gang members in Zakibiam’s New City in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State.

Witnesses told our correspondent that the four neutralised criminal kingpins were foot soldiers of the late gang leader, Terwase Akwaza popularly known as ‘Gana’ who held hostage inhabitants of the Sankera area comprising three local government areas of Ukum, Logo and Kastina-Ala.

Media aide to Chairman of Ukum LGA, Timothy Vihimga, told our correspondent on THE telephone that the police swooped on the alleged gang members at their hideouts in New City, Zakibiam at the early hours of Saturday, killing four of them (suspects) while the others escaped.

Vihimiga said, “It was this night (Saturday morning) at New City in Zakibiam that the guys (criminals) were rounded up. It appeared that police got intelligence that the guys were hiding somewhere so they went there and killed them.

“Four of them were gunned down, some escaped. The situation is very safe here. Normally, those guys had been on the run because of the confrontation with security agencies.

“This time, they just sneaked in and security agencies which had been on alert through intelligence swooped on them and killed them.

“Zakibiam and of course, Ukum LGA is very safe. There is relative peace in Ukum LGA. Everything is going on normal now. The security agencies have been on the watch out for those criminals who ran away and have been eliminating them whenever they sneaked in.”

Confirming the incident at the police Headquarters in Makurdi, where the corpses were later brought to, CSP Gberindyer Justin, who led the onslaught against the criminal gang told journalists that the bandits were killed by his men of Operation Zenda.

Justin also said that the deceased suspects were on their way to attack a village called Gbagire in the area when his men following an intelligence tip-off accosted them, killed four while many others escaped with gun wounds.