Insecurity: OPWS disagrees with Ortom, says we’re not over-stretched

Force Commander of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), Maj. Gen. Adeyemi Yekini, Tuesday, said his troops are neither overwhelmed nor overstretched by the security challenges in the three states of their operation.

Governor Samuel Ortom had while briefing newsmen after a meeting with civil society organizations, Monday at the Government House, said OPWS though is doing its best but was being over stretched and needed more men to adequately handle insecurity in the coverage area.

The governor also had said the operation needed more advanced equipment to help them in the fight against invaders and criminals in the state.

But in a swift reaction Tuesday, Yekini stated that since inception, they had lived up to expectations and had never failed in its duties.

According to him, the OPWS started operation in Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa states in July 2018, following daunting security challenges occasioned by the activities of armed herdsmen and militias, and had since then been working round the clock to keep all armed elements away from the three states.

Further reeling out the achievements of OPWS, Yekini said his troops eliminated hundreds of armed militia men and apprehended hundreds of others as well as  facilitated the voluntary return of close to 300,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) mostly in Benue.   

“We acknowledge that some are still in camps and we will continue to work hard to get them back home. We brought back social life to Makurdi and other key towns in Benue state, which were badly affected by the crisis at the time. 

“We substantially brought the lingering Tiv/Jukun crisis under control. We can go on and on if need be. We are professional soldiers. We are not saying that there are no lingering security challenges on ground. No, but we will continue to tackle them headlong in conjunction with other security agencies in the state. 

He further said every military operation has a mandate and it was his belief that they have substantially fulfilled their mandate not just in Benue but also in Nasarawa and Taraba States.

“We know how we met Benue State in particular when we got here. The security situation then was characterised by mass killings by armed herdsmen and other acts brigandage by war lords such as Gana and Ojoundu who carved out parts of the state for themselves. 

“But within a short period of operation, the OPWS succeeded in flushing out all these criminals and also curtailed the activities of armed herdsmen which have now been reduced to occasional skirmishes with troops.

“We assisted greatly in preserving Benue as the food basket of the nation in spite of all odds. Thanks to OPWS, Benue today is exporting trailer loads of foodstuff to other parts of the country almost on daily basis thereby boosting the state’s IGR,” he noted.