Troops on Wednesday morning neutralised a militia along the Benue/Nassarawa State border during a clearance operation.

The Director of Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman, who confirmed this in a statement, said troops of 72 Special Forces Battalion and 177 Guards Batallion were alerted to the presence of an armed militia on the border.

Usman said at the time of the alert “the criminals were setting houses on fire in Igacha village, about 4 km away from Kadarko town.”

“Troops responded immediately by mobilising to the area to stop the arson and apprehend the perpetrators.

“The militia on sighting troops, abandoned their mission and scampered for safety in different directions.

“However, the troops neutralised one of the assailants, while others escaped with gunshot wounds,” he said

The army spokesman said a cordon-and-search operation was in progress in the general area to track down the fleeing armed criminals.

He appealed to the inhabitants of the area to be on the lookout for wounded persons and report to the security agencies. (NAN)