MIRIAM NNOLI 
The Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, on Tuesday pushed forward the training of credible youths across Benue State as vigilantes working under the supervision of the military to defend local communities against terrorist attacks.
The CDS stated this during a meeting with traditional rulers in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
He urged the traditional rulers to put a check on any criminal elements within their domains as he will not tolerate any act of sabotage while working to ensure the protection of Benue communities.
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The defense chief who has been in the state since Monday had said the military would change strategy to combat the acts of terror.
Benue, a food-producing state in Nigeria’s North-Central zone, has been under heavy attacks by suspected herdsmen for some time.
The killings have lingered for years, with some linking it to inter-communal conflicts as well as the quest for land dominance between the autochthonous agrarian dwellers and nomadic cattle rearers.
However, the killings in the last few weeks have been without a break. At least over 160 residents were confirmed killed in a series of attacks by suspected herdsmen who wreaked havoc in different communities in the state within two months.
