How government official allegedly “misled” deadly airstrikes on herdsmen in Nasarawa 

On the alleged aircraft strike that killed some cattle rearers in the Kwatiri community in the Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, more information has come to light. 

The Military High Command received reliable information that some terrorists had entered some communities near the border between the states of Nasarawa and Benue, according to PRNigeria, which obtained this information from a reliable source. This information led to the military high command ordering an airstrike. 

The military, security, and intelligence agencies then coordinated a cooperative operation to hunt down the terrorists, but the team was misled about their location by a certain state government official (name withheld), which resulted in the bombing of the defenceless ranchers. 

READ ALSO: Benue: My agony has been the FG’s involvement in herdsmen attacks since 2015 – Ortom

An intelligence source who wished to remain anonymous told PRNigeria that the incident was related to a current military operation that the Defense Headquarters had ordered in response to an uptick in murders, kidnappings, and acts of terrorism committed by criminal elements evading the onslaught of troops in the country’s north-eastern and north-eastern regions. 

The herders were killed on their way back from Makurdi, the capital of Benue State, where they had gone to rescue more than 1,000 cows that had been taken by the Benue Livestock Guards, according to him. 

The intelligence source went on to say that it was local intelligence agents in the state who immediately alerted the military to stop the operation, claiming it had been carried out in the wrong place. 

Recall that a joint military operation spanning the states of Benue, Nasarawa, and Taraba known as “Operation Whirl Stroke,” or OPWS, has been in progress for the past three years with the goal of eliminating killer herders and bandits from the states’ woods and settlements. 

The Nasarawa Police Command has, in the meantime, confirmed the incident and stated that pastoralists were murdered during the “airstrike” in the state’s Doma Local Government Area. 

DSP Ramhan Nansel, the command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), stated that an investigation was proceeding to identify individuals responsible and that police officers had been sent to the area to maintain peace and order. 

In the wake of the incident, Governor Abdullahi Sule denounced the act and declared that he was in contact with his Benue counterpart about it while security agents persisted in their inquiries. 

He urged the populace to maintain their composure and refrain from enforcing any laws. 

PRNigeria learned that the Deputy Governor of the State, Dr. Emmanuel Akabe, the Nasarawa State Commissioner of Police, CP Maiyaki Mohammed-Baba, and several traditional rulers had visited the location of the event and attended the burial of the deceased.