Army says troops participating in Operation Python Dance prevented herdsmen attack in Anambra State

NIGERIAN military commanders have revealed that soldiers engaged in Operation Python dance have successfully averted a potential bloody clash between Fulani cattle herdsmen and farmers in Anambra State.

 

In 2017, the Nigerian Army launched Operation Python Dance in southeast Nigeria but the local population claimed was an attempt to intimidate people. Secessionist groups like the Indigenous people of Biafra (Ipob) said the operation was introduce to harass and intimidate their members who are clamouring for an Igbo homeland.

 

Earlier today, however, military commanders claimed that soldiers attached to the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army in Enugu who were engaged in Operation Python Dance prevented a brutal clash last week. Nigerian Army spokesman Col Sagir Musa, said that following the death of a herder in the Anam area of the state last week, a bloody clash had been imminent.

 

Last week two Catholic priests were kidnapped in Anam and they claimed they were kept in a farm in a thick forest for four days before they were released to one of their superiors who travelled from Enugu to Anambra to receive them. According to Col Musa, thanks to the presence of soldiers in the area, a major clash was prevented between the local people and the herdsmen.

 

Col Musa said:  “With the successful flag off of Exercise Egwu Eke III in the southeast geo-political zone, in line with the chief of army staff Lt General Tukur Buratai’s directive, all formations and units under the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army commenced activities in the areas of robust patrols, snap checkpoints, rescue missions and cordon and search among others, where necessary. Consequently, Troops of Sector Five in 302 Artillery General Support Regiment, Onitsha in conjunction with other security agencies, based on intelligence, averted a bloody clash between farmers and herdsmen in Anam area of Anambra West Local Government Area of Anambra State on January 7, 2019.

 

Also, the army said it had arrested a notorious car snatcher in Umuahia, in Abia State and intercepted a truck load of illegally bunkered oil at Obitti in Ohaji Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State. Operation Python Dance was only recently re-introduced after being suspended following clashes with Ipob that led to its leader Nnamdi Kanu fleeing to Israel.

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