We’ve arrested 198 for violating Benue grazing law — Owoseni

A total of 198 suspects have been arrested and are currently facing prosecution in courts for violating Benue State Open Grazing Prohibition Law.

Benue State Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni, who made this known yesterday in Makurdi, said suspects included those involved in cattle rustling and those who engaged in open grazing of cattle.

Owoseni also disclosed that the Command had arrested 19 suspects over last Sunday’s clash between rival cult groups in Otukpo the headquarters of Otukpo Local Government Area.

He said: “Of that number, we have been able to establish and identify seven as members of the cult groups, while 12 others were held for their complicity in the matter.

“On the whole, 30 suspects were arrested for cult-related activities within the last one month in the state.”

In the case of robbery, Owoseni said 14 suspects were arrested in the last one month with 13 different calibre of prohibited firearms, including four AK-47 rifles and 23 locally-made rifles.

He added that the recovered locally-made rifles were fabricated to suit AK-47 ammunition.