Benue security operatives arrest four armed hunters

A Benue State security outfit, known as the Benue State Civil Protection Guard, has apprehended four individuals claiming to be members of the National Hunters and Forest Security Services, a group reportedly engaged in fighting Boko Haram and other insurgents in Maiduguri, Borno State.

The suspects were arrested in Aliade, the headquarters of Gwer Local Government Area, with the support of local vigilance members.

Parading the suspects in Makurdi on Wednesday, the Commandant, Captain Ajovi Ajobi (Rtd.), stated that the self-acclaimed hunters, who had previously fought insurgents in the North East alongside conventional security forces, arrived in the state two days before their arrest.

Two of the suspects, Hassan Abubakar and Mohammed Maiduguri, speaking in incoherent English, told journalists that they were part of a group of 28 people brought from Nasarawa State by a Chinese construction company.

They claimed their mission was to help secure the company’s property and expressed surprise at their arrest by the Civil Protection Guard.

The suspects alleged that the Chinese company had not informed them that they would be taken to Benue State for work.

They stated that their original assignment was in Nasarawa State, where a notification letter had been sent to the Department of State Services.

Explaining their background, the suspects recounted their role in fighting Boko Haram in Maiduguri, which led to their deployment to Nasarawa.

They claimed that a Chinese company sought their expertise but insisted they had no knowledge of being in Benue State.

Joseph Har, the Security Adviser on Internal Affairs to Governor Hyacinth

Alia, said, “The arrest of these four suspects, as first responders, revealed that twenty-four others were in Benue, prompting the police to search for and apprehend them.”

Har stated that after verifying their claims with the authorities, the suspects’ statements about their true identities were inconsistent.

He added that the four suspects would be handed over to the police for further investigation.

Items recovered from them included two pump-action guns and cartridges.