By Amos Aar
THE Force Commander, Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), Major General Sunday Igbinomwanhia, has expressed worry that criminal elements are exploiting the prevailing farmer-herder’s clashes to perpetrate terror in communities in the form of banditry, kidnapping and cattle rustling, making it difficult to tackle the crisis.
General Igbinomwanhia made this known on Wednesday at a meeting with security agencies, farmers, Miyetti Cattle Breeders Association and traditional rulers in Makurdi at the instance of OPWS commanding officers from Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states.
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Igbinomwanhia, who stressed that kinetic force alone was not enough to quell the crisis within the border states said there was need to assemble the stakeholders to chart the way forward.
He however assured that the military would continue to review its tactics, techniques and procedures in order to always come up with implementable strategies to defeat adversaries.
According to the Force Commander, the use of civil military cooperation had helped OPWS to succeed in reducing the clashes between farmers and herders in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States.
He further stated that the security situation between farmers and herders had improved drastically as against what was experienced in 2017 due largely to the concerted efforts of OPWS through the use of kinetic and non-kinetic means.
“This has greatly helped in reducing killings as well as criminality and has restored normalcy.
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“The mandate of the operation is to put to an end the incessant killings of innocent citizens by armed robbers, bandits, illegal armed herdsmen, militia groups and other criminal elements in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States,” Igbinomwanhia said.
The state Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Mr Aondongu Saaku, said that both crop and animal farmers needed peace, lamenting that the continued clashes between the two was threatening food security.
Also speaking, a member of the Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Dr Victoria Daaor, said that dialogue was the best option to broker peace between farmers and herders.
Daaor therefore, commended OPWS for such a laudable initiative, stressing that it was the right way to go.
