Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), yesterday killed four armed bandits who invaded the Agasha community in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State. It was gathered from locals in the area that armed herdsmen had earlier on Monday night invaded the community and killed two people and shot an old woman in their house near LGEA primary school, Agasha.
Force Commander of OPWS, Major General Adeyemi Yekini, said his troops immediately mobilised and trailed the invaders until they were able to get them: “Please be informed that some suspected armed herdsmen infiltrated Agasha in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State and killed two villagers overnight.
“Operation Whirl Stroke troops on patrol in the area immediately mobilised to the scene but the herdsmen had fled before their arrival.
“Troops subsequently tracked the assailants through some of the nearby communities overnight while other troops deployed at Tomatar across the river also in Guma blocked the escape route towards Nasarawa State. At about 0600hrs this morning, troops had contact with the armed herdsmen at a makeshift camp close to the Benue river during which four of the assailants were killed, while troops recovered 2 x AK 47 rifles, four magazines and 65 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition from the bandits”.
Yekini who noted that none of his men was injured during the operation explained further that troops were still on ‘search and destroy operation’ in the general area at the time of this report. The OPWS boss said that details of further contacts would be communicated to newsmen as soon as the operation was over.
