A combined team of the Nigerian Military and Police have uncovered an ammunition bunker and recovered a cache of arms including 3,000 rounds of live ammunition at Gbishi in Katsina-Ala LGA of Benue State.
The arms consists of 26 assorted fire arms, anti-aircraft guns, grenades and rocket launchers in the bunker are said to belong to ‘wanted militant leader’, Terwase Agwaza, also known as Gana.
Displaying the recovered weapons at the Benue State Government House in Makurdi, the Special Adviser on Security to Governor Samuel Ortom, Colonel Edwin Jando (rtd), said the discovery followed a tip-off.
Jando said: “The bunker, where these weapons were discovered, is one of the several bunkers in the crisis-torn Sankera axis of the state, belonging to Gana and his boys.”
He explained that several arrests had been made, stressing that security operatives were on the trail of the wanted militant leader and his gang members.
He acknowledged the role played by the Police Commissioner, Bashir Makama, his Mobile Police counterpart, Ahmed Bello, who was deployed to Benue State in the wake of increased crisis in the Sankera area; and the Commandant of the 72 Special Force Battalion, Colonel Muhammad Inuwa, in ensuring the success of the operation.
Governor Samuel Ortom commended the Army, Air Force, Police and other security agencies for their synergy in the control of crime and urged them to intensify efforts towards recovering more weapons and arresting the kingpin.
He lamented that the wanted militant leader had used the amnesty programme of his administration as a cover up to perpetrate crime, assuring that with the current support of the Federal Government, he would be arrested soon.
Governor Ortom stated that the State Security Council would not rest on its oars until crime was reduced to the barest minimum in the state.
In his remark, the Commandant of the 72 Special Force Battalion, Colonel Muhammad Inuwa, said all the recovered weapons would be handed over to Police for further investigations.
The Police Commissioner who was also present said investigations was still ongoing to fish out members of the gang.
