Jet fighters belonging to the Nigeria Air Force (NAF), are intensifying airstrikes to flush out suspected armed herdsmen terrorists attacking the people of Turan in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State.
Sources from the area also confirmed to New Telegraph that an Armoured Tank has also been stationed at the military base in Jato-Aka as part of government’s efforts to curb the recalcitrant attackers.
A staff of the NAF who spoke to New Telegraph on telephone on condition of anonymity confirmed NAF’s air operation in the area.
He said, “certainly, we at the Tactical Air Force Command (TAC) here, we are operating around those areas, we carry out air surveillance, but I cannot tell you where and where we are doing our operations.
“We have Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) here, you can come to the headquarters with your team and ask anybody the information office and get what you want. The OPWS has both land and air components, we are protecting the environment, but I won’t tell you when we are going airborne.”
It was however learnt that at least, five council wards including: Moon, Mbaikyor, Mbadura, Kumakwagh and Yaav have been under siege due to persistent attacks by herdsmen.
Many people have been killed, scores of others displaced and property worth billions of naira including food items destroyed by the invaders.
Several displaced families are said to be taking refuge on the Anwase Mountain top as well as in Jato-Aka and Nyihemba settlement areas.
When our correspondent visited the now deserted communities, a jet was seen hovering over the affected communities to push away the invaders who have taken over 80 percent of the fertile land that is good for the cultivation of rice, bambara nut, yam, corn, maize and cassava among other crops.
Our correspondent also gathered that security agents have been drafted to the area to help maintain peace and return the IDPs to their ancestral homes.
Two soldiers of the Nigeria Army who paid the supreme price were waylaid and killed by the armed herdsmen in the course of providing services to the area.
Speaking to our correspondent, a prominent son of the area, Mr. Lawrence Akerigba said the invaders, during the last attack, killed two farmers, Yenge Kwaghnguga and Bem Adugh Igbudu at the Tse-Tsumbu crossing point.
Akerigba said that Jato-Aka, a town that bubbles with several business activities is no longer safe and is now another flashpoint of possible attack, adding that it has now been filled with hordes of displaced people
