The Benue State Police Command has rescued 29 kidnapped victims. It arrested 48 suspects in October. Thirty-four of the suspects are foreign nationals. The command recovered seven locally fabricated firearms. The Commissioner of Police, Cletus Nwadiogbu, disclosed the figures on Tuesday in Makurdi.
Benue has faced kidnapping, banditry and communal violence for years. Armed groups operate in Logo, Katsina-Ala and Ukum local government areas. The federal government deployed Operation Whirl Stroke to the state. Local vigilantes and the Benue State Civil Protection Guards supplement security. Joint operations have produced rescues. The pattern repeats because the forest corridors and riverine routes are difficult to patrol.
Nwadiogbu said 16 Cameroonians were arrested in Otukpo on 9 October over travel documents and immigration status. Security intercepted 18 Nigeriens at Orokam on 22 October while travelling to Ikom, Cross River. The Nigeria Immigration Service will verify their status. The command neutralised a suspected bandit and recovered 16 rounds of ammunition and cartridges.
On kidnapping, four passengers abducted along the Uzer axis of Ayilamo-Tse-Abi Road in Logo on 5 October were rescued. The driver was killed. The rescue involved the police, Operation Whirl Stroke, the Civil Protection Guards and local hunters. Seventeen farmers abducted from Tse-Acha and Tse-Wuam in Bamun Village, Logo, were rescued on 7 October. Eight victims, including a Reverend Father, were abducted in Ohimini on 13 October. Two were freed on 16 October. Six more were freed on 18 October. The victims were taken to the Federal University of Health Sciences Teaching Hospital, Otukpo. Two suspects were arrested.
The command is also investigating child abuse, homicide, cult violence and defilement. Hemen Wuese was arrested over the alleged abuse of two children in Kwande on 5 October. One child died. The survivor is stable. Three suspects were arrested over a cult attack in Wadata, Makurdi, on 14 October. The victim later died. A 60-year-old man was arrested over the alleged defilement of a 10-year-old girl in Igumale.
Winners: The 29 rescued victims. The police, which showed capacity. The Civil Protection Guards and hunters, who assisted. Communities in Logo and Ohimini, which gained relief. Losers: The dead driver. The dead child and the cult victim. The 48 suspects, who face prosecution. The 34 foreigners, whose status is under investigation. Kidnap networks, which lose victims and operatives.
Bottom Line: Twenty-nine rescued. Forty-eight arrested. Seven firearms recovered. The command is working. The rescues are real. The killings continue. Joint operations help. They do not end the violence. Benue’s rural roads remain dangerous.