IGP announces arrest of 53 suspects for Benue, Plateau killings

The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has said about 53 suspects have been arrested in connection with deadly attacks in Benue and Plateau states that claimed over 100 lives and left several others injured.

Egbetokun disclosed this while addressing reporters at the Force Headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.

The IGP described the June 13 massacre in Yelewata community in Benue State as a “coordinated attack of terror.”

Egbetokun said 26 were arrested for the attack in Yelewata, 22 suspects in connection with the Plateau attacks and another five in Benue for a more recent attack.

He stated that 47 persons were killed and 27 were injured in the Yelewata attack, adding that two general-purpose machine guns and eight AK-47 rifles used in the attack were recovered.

The arrest is coming days after President Bola Tinubu directed the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, to arrest killer herders who perpetrated the heinous killing of over 100 people in Yelewata community in Benue State.