Nigeria’s army said on Wednesday that it would send troops into the volatile central states in a bid to quell violence between farmers and herders. The International Crisis Group said in a report published last September that some 2,500 people had been killed on both sides in 2016. Major General David Ahmadu said the deployment from February 15 would crack down on “clashes and attacks on innocent members of our communities, particularly in Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa states by armed militias,” AFP said. The operation will also target “armed banditry, kidnapping and cattle rustling” in Kaduna and Niger, as well as other crimes in Kogi, he added.