COAS vows to hunt down perpetrators of Benue, Plateau killings

“We are out, fully deployed and tackling the menace head-on,” he said.

News Agency of Nigeria • June 21, 2025

Defence chief Olufemi Oluyede

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, says the Nigerian Army will bring to justice the perpetrators of the recent killings in Benue, Plateau and other parts of the country.

Mr Oluyede made this known on Saturday in Akure during a second quarter 2025 media chat organised by the Department of Civil-Military Affairs, Nigerian Army Headquarters.

The media chat was themed “Military – Media Collaboration: Panacea for Enhanced National Security and Development”.

The COAS, represented by Maj. Gen. Obinna Onubogu, General Officer Commanding (GOC) 2 Div., Nigerian Army, Ibadan, said the military was fully committed to ending the spate of violence, particularly in North-Central Nigeria.

Mr Oluyede, who said that the president had given very clear orders, explained that they would remain engaged in Plateau, Benue, Kwara and quite a number of states that were experiencing insecurity.

“We are out, fully deployed and tackling the menace head-on.

“In Benue particularly, you will see in the coming weeks, very elaborate security arrangements to ensure that all that is going on there completely stops.

“Communities and local stakeholders should support military operations by sharing timely intelligence.

“The Army cannot be everywhere at once. Nigeria is a vast country but we are not as large in number as many people believe.

“We rely heavily on the support and cooperation of the local population to provide timely and credible information.

“In some cases, unfortunately, the people are not very helpful in terms of the information they give out, which delays our reaction time. That must change if we are to win this fight together,” he said.

The COAS called on media personnel to verify facts before publication, and help in building national security and development to combat misinformation and sensational reporting,

According to him, the social media space, especially, is flooded with misinformation, disinformation and outright lies.

“So, we are appealing to the media practitioners to reach out to us before putting out unverified stories.

“We are satisfied with the support we’ve received from the media so far and we hope to deepen that synergy to ensure national security is not undermined by sensational reporting,” he said.

(NAN)

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