The Military Special Task Force in charge of maintaining peace in Plateau State said, on Tuesday, that it rewarded eight personnel of Operation Safe Haven for rejecting N1.5m bribe from suspected cattle rustlers in the state.

The spokesman for the task force, Capt. Oya James, who disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, said the eight personnel, deployed at OPSH Sector 4, intercepted 30 rustled cows at Bisichi checkpoint in the Barkin Ladi local government area of the state.

According to him, the cattle, belonging to one Shehu Umar, were rustled in Mangu and were being transported to an undisclosed location when troops of the task force on a stop-and-search operation intercepted them.

The task force spokesman said, “The occupants of the vehicle, Anas Usman, 20 years old, and Gyang Cholly, 42 years old, immediately approached the troops in a bid to bribe them and secure a security pass for the stolen cattle. The monetary plea was rejected and the suspects were arrested as well as the money offered for the bribe.

“The commander, Operation Safe Haven, Maj. Gen. Abubakar, while presenting a cash reward to the distinguished personnel, urged other security personnel to continually exemplify good conduct and bravery in the discharge of their responsibilities.

“Represented by the Chief of Staff OPSH, Brig. Gen. M.O. Agi, the commander further charged them to emulate the excellent conduct of the eight personnel.”