The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Olukayode Egbetokun, on Monday, arrived Benue State in North Central Nigeria, where ferocious marauders wreaked havoc last Friday, killing scores and displacing hundreds of people.
IGP Egbetokun arrived in the state in the company of other senior management team and ordered the immediate deployment of additional tactical teams.
The police chief would meet with Governor Hyacinth Alia and other state actors before departing for Abuja.
Benue State has been under heavy attacks by suspected herdsmen for some time. The killings have lingered for years, with some linking them to inter-communal conflicts as well as the quest for land dominance between the autochthonous agrarian dwellers and nomadic cattle rearers.
However, the killings in the last few weeks have been without a break. At least over 160 residents were confirmed killed in a series of attacks by suspected herdsmen who wreaked havoc in different communities in the food-producing state.
On Sunday, President Bola Tinubu directed security chiefs to implement his earlier directive to bring lasting peace and security to Benue State.
“The latest news of wanton killings in Benue State is very depressing. We must not allow this bloodletting to continue unabated. Enough is now enough.
“I have directed the security agencies to act decisively and arrest perpetrators of these evil acts on all sides of the conflict and prosecute them,” the President said.
