A Benue State security outfit, known as the Benue State Civil Protection Guard, has arrested four individuals claiming to be members of the National Hunters and Forest Security Services, a group allegedly engaged in fighting Boko Haram and other insurgents in Maiduguri, Borno State.
With the assistance of local vigilance members, the accused were taken into custody in Aliade, the Gwer Local Government Area headquarters.
The self-proclaimed hunters, who had previously fought militants in the Northeast alongside conventional security forces, came in the state two days prior to their arrest, according to the Commandant, Captain Ajovi Ajobi (Rtd.), who paraded the suspects in Makurdi on Wednesday.
Speaking incoherently in English, two of the suspects, Hassan Abubakar and Mohammed Maiduguri, informed reporters that they were among 28 individuals who had been transported from Nasarawa State by a Chinese construction company.
They expressed surprise at being arrested by the Civil Protection Guard and stated that their goal was to assist in securing the company’s property.
The suspects reported that the Chinese company had not told them that they would be taken to Benue State for labour.
They alleged that their intended duty was in Nasarawa State, where a notice letter had been submitted to the Department of State Services. Explaining their background, the suspects recalled their role in combating Boko Haram in Maiduguri, which led to their deployment to Nasarawa.
They maintained that they were unaware that they were in Benue State, despite claiming that a Chinese corporation had sought their expertise.
Joseph Har, the Security Adviser on Internal Affairs to Governor Hyacinth Alia, said, “The arrest of these four suspects, as first responders, revealed that twenty-four others were in Benue, prompting the police to search for and apprehend them.”
According to Har, the suspects’ allegations regarding their genuine identities were contradicted after being checked by the authorities.
The four suspects will be handed over to the police for further investigation, he added.
Cartridges and two pump-action pistols were among the items found on them.
