Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke, 72 Special Forces Battalion, 93 Battalion and Mobile Policemen from Takum have arrested 17 suspected bandits in Sankera axis of Benue State.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, retired Colonel Paul Hemba who made this known while briefing journalists today in Makurdi also said 19 kidnapped victims were rescued by the troops.
Retired Colonel Hemba said the suspects who had links with the Late Terwase Akwaza were picked when the troops raided their hideouts in Ajon, Igbudu and Tor Donga parts of the state.
He stated that the suspected bandits had last Saturday kidnapped 23 persons along Wukari-Takum road with the aim of triggering inter communal crisis between the Tiv and the Jukum tribes.
The Security Adviser said following the raid and arrest of the bandits, 19 out of the 23 abducted persons were rescued from the bandits, stressing that those arrested were being profiled by the DSS in Takum, Taraba State.
Hemba who said efforts in search of the four abductees were on, restated the resolve of the Ortom administration never to surrender to criminals.
