The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, has attributed the recent violent attacks in Benue State to foreign mercenaries, saying the attackers’ conduct does not reflect Nigerian values or identity.
Speaking on Saturday through Major General Obinna Onubogu, the General Officer Commanding the 2 Division Nigerian Army, at the Nigerian Army Civil-Military Cooperation quarterly media chat in Akure, Oluyede described the wave of killings as “utterly despicable” and likely driven by external elements.
“We are mindful that some of these people may be foreign elements. The behaviour we are seeing is utterly despicable… It does not reflect any kind of national identity or value system,” he said.
The media chat, themed “Military-Media Collaboration: Panacea for Enhanced National Security and Development,” comes amid fresh concerns over the massacre of over 200 people — including IDPs and security personnel — in coordinated attacks in Yelwata and Daudu communities of Guma LGA last week.
Oluyede said the Nigerian Army is taking strategic steps to root out the perpetrators and restore order, particularly in Benue, where military presence will be strengthened in the coming weeks.
“You will see very elaborate security arrangements to ensure that all that is going on there completely stops. We shall go after them, and by God’s grace, we will get them.”He noted that President Bola Tinubu had issued clear directives for decisive action, and personnel are now fully deployed across key hotspots. “The President has given very clear orders… we are out—fully deployed—and tackling the menace head-on,” he said.
The army chief appealed for community cooperation, stressing the importance of timely intelligence to military success. “The Army cannot be everywhere at once. Nigeria is vast. We rely heavily on the support and cooperation of the local population to provide timely and credible information.” Oluyede warned that inadequate community support slows response times and undermines efforts to contain insecurity.
The military remains actively engaged in Benue, Plateau, Kwara, and other flashpoints in a broader bid to protect Nigeria’s territorial integrity from both internal and external threats.
