The suspects, according to the Nigeria Air Force, were arrested by troops of Operations Whirl Stroke working in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states.
At least 19 suspected criminals have been arrested in different areas of Benue and Nassarawa states.
The suspects, according to the Nigeria Air Force, were arrested by troops of Operations Whirl Stroke working in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states.
They are alleged to be involved in armed banditary, kidnapping and weapon supply.
Parading the suspects at Tactical Air Command, Nigeria Air force, Makurdi on Saturday, the Force Commander of OPWS, Adeyemi Yekini, a Major General, said that 13 of the suspects were arrested in Gboko and Katsina-Ala areas of Benue State.
Yekini said that the troops had broken the weapon supply chain fueling criminalities in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states.
He said, “Our star suspect is Don Moji. He is the number one weapon supplier to Gana; he is responsible for between 80 and 90 per cent of weapons that Gana had been using to terrorise the people of Benue State.
“Our intelligence team got wind of Moji’s activities about four months ago somewhere around Abuja.
“Just as we were closing in on him to effect his arrest at Abuja, he suddenly disappeared and reappeared a few days later at Owode Idiroko in Ogun State.
“We again sent troops to the area to arrest him but he disappeared and for almost two months, we lost track of him. During this period, he did a lot of things to cover his tracks and hide his identity.
“So when he was sure that he had covered himself well enough after the two months period, he appeared again in Abuja to continue his weapons supply activities to Gana.
“This time around, he was not that lucky as we were able to arrest him with the support of Guards Brigade troops. We tracked him to somewhere between Kashi and Kurudu in Abuja where we arrested him.”
The troops’ commander said that Moji had led troops to the main armourer of Gana, adding that the armourer was arrested around the North Bank area of Makurdi.
Yekini who added that the weapon supply ring extends to Plateau and Taraba states, vowed that troops would soon apprehend all those involved.