The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, has linked the recent wave of violent killings in Benue State to suspected foreign mercenaries, suggesting that the perpetrators are not Nigerians.
He made the assertion on Saturday, June 21, at the opening of the Nigerian Army Civil-Military Cooperation quarterly media chat held in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
Speaking through the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 2 Division Nigerian Army, Ibadan, Major General Obinna Onubogu, Oluyede said the conduct of the attackers reflects behaviours that are inconsistent with Nigerian values and national identity.
“We are mindful that some of these people may be foreign elements,” he stated. “The behaviour we are seeing is utterly despicable, the way they go about their work. It does not reflect any kind of national identity or value system.”
Oluyede strongly condemned the killings and displacement caused by the attackers in Benue communities and reiterated the military’s commitment to securing Nigeria’s territorial integrity from both internal and external threats.
He disclosed that security forces are refining their strategies to dismantle the armed groups and ensure they face justice. “The Nigerian Army has remained engaged in Plateau, in Benue, in Kwara, in quite a number of states that are experiencing insecurity,” he said. “In Benue particularly, you will see, in the coming weeks, very elaborate security arrangements to ensure that all that is going on there completely stops. We shall go after them, and by God’s grace, we will get them.”
According to the COAS, the military has received direct orders from President Bola Tinubu to act decisively and has already deployed personnel to areas affected by the violence.
“The President has given very clear orders for us to go out there. And so we are out, fully deployed, and tackling the menace head-on,” he added. Oluyede appealed to communities to support military operations with timely and credible information, noting the challenges posed by limited troop numbers and delayed intelligence.
“Nigeria is a vast country, and we are not as large in number as many people believe. We rely heavily on the support and cooperation of the local population,” he said. “Unfortunately, the people are not very helpful in terms of the information they give out, which delays our reaction time. That must change if we are to win this fight together.”
His comments come in the wake of a deadly attack in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue, where at least 200 people, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) and security personnel, were killed by suspected armed groups in Yelewata and Daudu communities last week.
