Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, has said that troops were in Yelwata town in Benue State on Friday, June 13, 2025 but were misled into leaving the agrarian community by a false terror alert from a neighbouring town.
“On the issue of intelligence, yes, intelligence is coming,” The defence chief said at a press briefing in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, on Thursday.
“Because of the insider information, that actual day that it happened, the troops were there. There was a fake attack in another village. When the troops moved in, that was when they came in to attack this other town.
“That’s what happens because there are people telling them (attackers), ‘Okay, the troops are here, the troops are there’.
“I can tell you consistently if troops are moving for an operation, there are people who are monitoring them, telling them three vehicles, this number of soldiers, this number of this, this is what they are doing. These people are giving them information. People take food to them. People take even women to give them. That’s to tell you how bad it is and how sad the situation is.
“So, that’s why we want to preach the aspect of good governance. We believe that if there’s good governance and people have a sense of belonging, most of these issues will go down if we address them properly.”
Last Friday, scores of residents in the Yelwata area in Benue were killed and over 3,000 persons were displaced during an overnight attack by suspected herdsmen.
Though the government put the number of slain persons at 59, civil rights groups claimed that about 200 deaths were recorded.
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