Troops have again arrested seven herdsmen in Benue while destroying farmlands with their cattle, bringing the number of herdsmen arrested for such crime to 17 in the last four days.

The ten herdsmen were nabbed while destroying farmland at Tse-Tigir and Tse-Ndugh villages of the state.

Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier-General Texas Chukwu, said troops arrested four of the suspects at Gbajimba-Kaseyo-Awe and picked three along Buruku-Uba-Abeda-Ameh and Fadama Kuturu, saying a large number of weapons were recovered from the arrested herdsmen.

In another development, Chukwu said Special Forces responded to distress call along Okene-Lokoja road, and engaged a gang of suspected kidnappers, saying based on information, the kidnappers had abducted one Alhaji Momoh on Feb. 18.

Chukwu said during the fire fight, the kidnappers abandoned their location and fled into bush but added that the troops would trail and arrest them.

The army launched “Exercise Ayem Akpatuma – Cat Race’’ on Feb. 15, to address recurring herdsmen/farmers clashes and other forms of criminality in Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Niger and Kogi states.