The Ministry of Defense revealed that many of the herders and terrorists who have recently violent attacks on Benue, the plateau and other parts of the country are foreigners who have penetrated Nigeria through the porous border.
Defence Media Action Director Markus Kangye revealed this when he spoke at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, May 8, 2025.
According to him, the identity and language of the attackers helped the security forces confirm that many of the attackers were not Nigerians.
“Well, when you hear them talking in some cases, you’ll be able to explain if these people are from here.
“For example, if someone in Sokoto says Hausa and my Katsina friend says Hausa, you’ll find some differences.
“We speak Hausa in Nigeria different from those in Mali, Central African Republic and Ghana.”
He added that in addition to their language, their hair also shows that they are not Nigerian.
“So when we arrest these herders and terrorists from the way they speak, it’s obvious that even from their hair you tell you that they are not from Nigeria.
“I think the only community in Nigeria with similar hair to the Sahel may be Shuva Arabs in Borno State, but they don’t even have the same thing.”
Kangye noted that while some Nigerian herders also clashed with farmers, the most violent incidents were largely driven by infiltration.
“People will also admit that while some of them are Nigerians, many of the people who intimidate our people are foreigners,” he said.
“Some herders are Nigerians, they are also involved in the process of raising cattle, and then they encroach on these farms and then before you know there is a conflict between farmers and farmers, these are the issues we are trying to solve.
“But know that most of the violence and constant killing you hear in certain parts of this country are committed by those who enter the country through our porous borders.
He called for stronger inter-agency cooperation to monitor Nigeria’s borders and ensure that all contestants are interpreted.
Kanye stressed the success of the military operation, announcing the arrest of the infamous gunman and the kidnapping of Kimpin, Buhari Umar, who has been scaring gombe, bauchi, plateau and kaduna countries.
He said the troops also arrested five kidnapping groups in the Rafia local government area of Nasarawa State.
The suspects were identified as Hassan Mohammed, Saleh Sani, Sali Yusuf and Hassan Bello.
According to Kangye, the military also neutralized dozens of terrorists, including a leader identified as Nkwachi Eze, also known as Onowu, who have been coordinating multiple attacks and kidnappings in the southeast.
He said the troops rescued 173 kidnapping victims in April, while more than 204 terrorists and their families surrendered to Nigerian forces.
“A total of 430 suspected oil thieves and other criminals were arrested. Operation Delta Force Security Foil Ice Floile Foile Foile Foil File Foil File Foil File File File File File Couple is worth more than 1.93 billion in just one week in just one week
“The items recovered include more than 1 million liters of stolen crude oil, hundreds of thousands of liters of illegally refined petroleum products and the destruction of 95 illegal refining sites,” he added.
