14th March, 2012
The Nasarawa State Police Command has arrested a herdsman with 20 rounds of AK 47 ammunition and one cartridge of a single barrel gun.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the arrest followed repeated attacks on Kadarko town and environ in Keana Local Government Area of the state.
Confirming the arrest, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Mr. Cornelius Ocholi, said that the suspect was arrested on Monday evening at Kwarra Village on his way to Giza Development Area.
Ocholi told NAN that the suspect, in his confessional statement, said the ammunition were given to him by one ‘Burorno’ now at large, to be taken to their kinsmen who were fighting ‘a war’ in Giza.
He said that the suspect was being detained at state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Lafia, while investigation was on to arrest more suspects following useful information given by the suspect.
The PPRO appealed for calm among the affected communities, and assured them that the police was doing its best to ensure that the perpetrators of the dastardly acts were punished.
He also appealed for the support of the public by giving necessary information that would lead to the arrest of trouble makers in the various communities in the state.
Ocholi added that, “these people are not ghosts, they live among the people in the various communities, and they know them.”
He also refuted the casualty figure of the March 8, attacks in Kadarko where it was reported in some national dailies that nine people were killed.
The PPRO said that only four person were confirmed dead during that attack, while three others sustained injuries.
NAN reports that the areas has been engulfed in incessant clashes between farmers and herdsmen.
The latest attack, carried out Sunday by suspected armed herdsmen on Tse Yaji, left eight persons dead.