Nigerian leader redeploys police chief to northern state over killings

ABUJA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday redeployed the national police chief to the north-central state of Benue where over 50 people have been killed in recent attacks allegedly perpetrated by local herdsmen.

The police confirmed the redeployment in a statement, saying its chief, Ibrahim Idris, and his team would move to the state to restore law and order, prevent further loss of lives and forestall the crisis from escalating.

The presidential order followed a public outcry on the security situation in Benue.

Killings by herdsmen in Logo and Guma communities in Benue had increased since the start of the new year.

National police spokesman Jimoh Moshood said "more units of the police special forces, counter-terrorism units, and conventional policemen had already been deployed to the state to comply in totality with the presidential order."

"The full weight of the law will be applied to anyone arrested for being responsible for the mayhem in the affected areas in the state," Moshood said.

Eight suspects have been arrested so far by the local police following the bloody attacks in the state.

Moses Yamu, the spokesman for the state police, said the suspects, all herdsmen, had made confessions to the security agency.

Benue had brought into effect an anti-open grazing law on Nov. 1, 2017. The law stipulates five-year jail term for violators. Enditem