Benue Gov. Fr Alia visits CDS; Hails Military for Curtailing Bandit’s invasion of Benue Lands, Killing of Farmers

Benue State Governor, Revd Father Hycinth Alia has hailed the armed forces of Nigeria for the restoration of peace and security in the Benue state, particularly as regards curtailing the murderous activities of terrorists and bandits who hitherto, infiltrated the state freely, killing farmers and wrecking havoc on communities.

Father Alia made this known when he paid a courtesy visit tovthe Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Christopher Gwabim Musa at Defence headquarters on Tuesday in Abuja noting, “The Nigerian Military has done so much. You know, we went for quite sometime with killing of farmers, destruction of farmlands and crops resulting in IDPs

“But since May this year that we came in, the state has experienced a lot of relative peace and that is the way forward. So we csme to appreciate the CDS for what the military has been doing and like Oliver Twist, request that they continue to do more.

He said, “The bandits and killers, you know infested the state and the Benue Valley and we recorded scores of deaths and families were disoriented and a lot of people lost their homes and their farm places and all that. But as you know life is just coming back with the support of the Nigerian army, via the operations of Operation Whirl Stroke and they are doing great.

“And as you know four local government in the state share border with the Cameroon. Benue State is one of the very top states with solid minerals and many more have been discovered and you know that to some degree it has the potential of rendering us vulnerable.

“So when you have other forms of insecurity plus this one that is supposed to raise the economy but potend some bit of harm further down the road, you know we need to secure the borders very well.”

“The Nigerian military has done so much for the state. We continue to look to the military and we came also to appreciate them. You know, Operation Whirl Stroke is with us and they are in the trenches. And like Oliver Twist, we came to ask for more. We came to present some more prayers.

“Because we want not just relative peace, we want absolute peace, You know, peace in the form that enables our IDPS to go back home to their ancestral farmland and for everyone to sleep with two eyes closed.

Continuing the governor said, “We are purely for security, security. We aporeciate the peace and security we are enjoying today. We want more to be done. We are praying for Forward Operation Bases also to be established at the state and even for a barracks to be shifted in there.

In his remarks, the CDS, Gen CG Musa said, “We want every Nigerian to enjoy, peace and security including those in the internally displaced camps. We want them closed. We want farmers to be able to go back to their farms. Communities should be able to go back to their communities so that they can live well.

“We have actually advised that security is everybody’s responsibility and this shows immediately. You see the governor is here to show his concern for his people in Benue State and what he has requested for are things that we equally are working towards.

“We want to enhance all our operations and professionalism so that they do so much. We want them to do more. He has a lot of issues on ground, the issue of discovery of mineral resources.

“We know how rich Bennue is and the attraction it has, especially on bandits and other criminal elements. We want to assure him that we’ve listened to what he has said.

“We will take these things into consideration in our deployment and we’re going to enhance our capabilities going forward. We want Benue and the rest of Nigeria, everywhere in Nigeria to be peaceful.

“These are the efforts, Those are the task we have ahead of us and we can assure Nigerians that they can rely and trust that the armed forces of Nigeria is here for them.”