A Makurdi Chief Magistrates’ Court on Thursday ordered that 11 cattle rearers be remanded at the Correctional Centre, Makurdi, for allegedly terrorising communities in Benue.
The cattle rearers are Nanzir Ishaya, Suleiman Umaru, Yakubu Mallam, Dauda Abdulkarim, Manu Buhari, Haruna Abdulkarim, Ibrahim Mallam, Yunusa Waziri, Idi Usman, Adamu Manu, and Abdullahi Wakili.
The defendants, who reside at various addresses in the Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue, were charged with criminal conspiracy, illegal possession of firearms, acts of terrorism, open grazing, and possession of cattle suspected to be stolen.
However, the Chief Magistrate, Mr Kelvin Mbanongun, did not take their pleas due to lack of jurisdiction.
Mbanongun adjourned the matter until 7 July 2025, for further mention.
Earlier, prosecutor Insp. Godwin Ato informed the court that on 1 June, a team of policemen attached to Operation Zenda at Katsina-Ala received credible information regarding a group of armed bandits, allies of the notorious bandit leader Amakaa Akwaza, who had been sighted in their hideout at Nugu village with firearms.
The prosecutor stated that upon receiving the information, a combined team of Operation Zenda and the Benue State Civil Protection Guards, led by Insp. Donald Ahulu, was mobilised to the hideout location, where they engaged the bandits in a gun battle.
Ato reported that the security operatives overpowered the suspected bandits during the fierce gun duel, resulting in some fully armed bandits fleeing, and an AK-47 rifle with breech number 6189, along with 16 rounds of live ammunition, was recovered from the scene.
