Troops Arrest Boko Haram Terrorists In Kogi

By Andah John with agency report

The Nigerian Army says it has arrested 17 suspected criminals, including two Boko Haram terrorists in Okene, Kogi state, Nigeria’s north-central region.

Commander, Army Records, Lokoja, Brig.-Gen. Henry Ayamasaowea, who presented the suspects to newsmen, said they were arrested with explosive devices and dangerous weapons.

Ayamasaowea said that 10 AK47 rifles, locally made guns, 12 masks of different sizes, ammunition, dagger, pump action guns, grenades and five explosive devices were among items recovered from them.

According to him, the Army and other security agencies have in the past three weeks been working round the clock to check kidnapping and other violent crimes in the area.

Herdsmen also arrested

He said those arrested also included herdsmen who had been terrorising the state, saying that some of the suspects might have invaded the state from Sambisa forest in the North-East.

“Boko Haram members have dispersed and many of them have made their way to Kogi. We took the security situation very seriously and that is why we went after them,” the commander said.

Meanwhile, Governor Yahaya Bello, who was present at the occasion, said government would not condone criminal activities in the state.

“We are after them and we have started getting them. We will not condone any act of criminality whether politically motivated or criminally motivated.

“We will never relent in our efforts to get to them wherever they are hiding; and parents should call their wards to order.

“This state has suffered a lot and we are ready to arrest and prosecute anybody who indulges in criminal activities in the state,” Bello warned.