Nigeria army to dispatch troops to central states

Nigeria's army on Wednesday said it would send troops into the country's volatile central states to quell violence between farmers and herders that has killed hundreds in recent weeks.

Major General David Ahmadu said the deployment from February 15 would crack down on "herdsmen/farmers clashes and attacks on innocent members of our communities, particularly in Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa state by armed militias."

The operation will also target "armed banditry, kidnapping and cattle rustling" in Kaduna and Niger, plus other crimes in Kogi, he added.

Ahmadu, who is the army's head of training and operations, said criminal activities had "continued unabatedly in these states despite the efforts by sister security agencies to curb them."

There was no immediate indication of the number of troops involved.

But Ahmadu said operations would include "raids, cordon and search operations, anti-kidnapping drills, road blocks, check points and show of force as well as humanitarian activities."

Amnesty International said last week that 168 people had been killed in communal violence between herders and farmers this year alone, with about a hundred in Benue state.

The global watchdog warned the violence was "spiraling" out of control.

The International Crisis Group warned in a report published last September said some 2,500 people were killed on both sides in 2016.

It warned the conflict was becoming "as potentially dangerous as the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast".

SS