The Defence Headquarters, Abuja, revealed that, the military had arrested 147 herdsmen in Benue State and 15 in Taraba in the ongoing Exercise Ayem Akpatuma, noting that the suspects had been handed over to the police for prosecution.

The military said the troops recovered 38 machetes, five AK-47 rifles, 23 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, 18 motorcycles, 19 locally made guns, five locally made pistols among other weapons from the arrested herdsmen and bandits.

The Director, Defence Information, Brig. Gen. John Agim, who spoke at a press briefing in the DHQ, said 13 soldiers were killed during the exercise, while seven soldiers were injured in action, noting that “we also had our equipment destroyed during the operation.”

When asked if the police had begun prosecuting the arrested herdsmen, Agim said, “We cannot say the police cannot do their work. The military cannot prosecute anybody and in every internal security operation, we do it in tandem with the police and other security agencies. The police take the suspects to court and they are given the maximum sentence. We don’t have any doubt about that.”

Agim said the military appealed to political leaders not to play politics with the security situation in Benue and Taraba states, insisting that the Chairman of the Takum Local Government Area of Taraba State, Mr. Shiba Tikari, failed to cooperate with the troops in the ongoing exercise.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army said on Wednesday that it had invited the Takum LGA Chair, Tikari, over the killings and declared five suspects wanted.

The army’s spokesman, Brig. Gen. Texas Chukwu, said the wanted suspects are; Tanko Dantayi, Kurusi Danladi, Chindo, Big Olumba and Chairman Poko.

Chukwu said the Director of the Military Intelligence would be interviewing the Takum LGA chairman on Friday