A Chief Magistrates’ Court in Makurdi has ordered the remand of 11 cattle rearers at the Correctional Centre in Makurdi for allegedly terrorising communities in Benue State.
Naijaonpoint reports that the individuals charged on Thursday were identified as Nanzir Ishaya, Suleiman Umaru, Yakubu Mallam, Dauda Abdulkarim, Manu Buhari, Haruna Abdulkarim, Ibrahim Mallam, Yunusa Waziri, Idi Usman, Adamu Manu, and Abdullahi Wakili.
Residing at various locations within the Katsina-Ala Local Government Area, the defendants faced charges including criminal conspiracy, illegal possession of firearms, acts of terrorism, open grazing, and possession of cattle believed to be stolen.
The Chief Magistrate, Kelvin Mbanongun, refrained from taking their pleas due to a lack of jurisdiction.
Mbanongun postponed the case until July 7, 2025, for further proceedings.
Earlier, prosecutor Insp. Godwin Ato informed the court that on June 1, a team of policemen from Operation Zenda in Katsina-Ala received reliable intelligence regarding a group of armed bandits associated with a notorious bandit leader, Amakaa Akwaza, who were observed in their hideout at Nugu village armed.
Upon receiving this information, a joint team from Operation Zenda and the Benue State Civil Protection Guards, led by Insp. Donald Ahulu, was dispatched to the hideout’s location and engaged the criminals in a gunfight.
Ato reported that the security forces successfully subdued the suspected bandits during an intense gunfight, which led to some of the heavily armed bandits escaping, while one AK-47 rifle, bearing breech number 6189 and containing 16 rounds of live ammunition, was seized from the location.
He further stated that the security personnel apprehended 10 of the suspected bandits as they were in the process of loading cattle, believed to be stolen, into a Mercedes Benz truck with the registration number TTM 405 XA Taraba, while also allowing some of the cows to graze openly on a nearby farm.
The prosecutor indicated that additional investigations resulted in the capture of the chief of the Fulani community in Katsina-Ala, Wakili, who has allegedly been collaborating with Akwaza in providing weapons to the herdsmen who are terrorizing Benue and its surrounding areas.
The prosecutor noted that their actions violated sections 6(b) and 3(1) of the Robbery and Firearms Act, 2004; section 19 of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of Benue, 2017; and section 321 of the Penal Code Laws of Benue, 2004.