Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of abandoning him and the people of the state.
Ortom said that the cabal around the president have been deliberately
frustrating the attempt by the state government to present the true
picture of what is happening in the state for selfish reasons.
He also said he was losing control of situations of things in the state as the people now take laws into their hands.
The Governor spoke with Vanguard, saying, “Let me be frank. The
Federal Government has not done enough. When this incidence started with
the threat from the president and secretary of Miyetti Allah, Kauta
Hore, who addressed a press conference and issued threats that they will
do everything possible to frustrate the Benue State Government from
implementing the anti-open grazing law, we quickly drew the attention of
the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of the Department
of State Services, DSS, and even the office of the National Security
Adviser.
The leadership of Miyetti Allah called the law names: that it was
draconian and had no place in the 21st century. We saw that as a threat
to our existence and in June 2016, we reported to the then acting
president (Prof. Yemi Osinbajo) and to our surprise, these people were
not apprehended.
"When they saw that no one was going to apprehend them, they went
further to issue more threats. In October 2016, we reminded the IGP, the
DSS and the NSA of the potential violence that we faced in Benue State
as a result of the threat from the Miyetti Allah. We, specifically,
demanded that the two officers of the Miyetti Allah, the secretary and
the president, be arrested, but unfortunately, they were not arrested. I
do not know why the Federal Government has abandoned us. If they had
acted that time, we would not have gotten to where we are today.”
Ortom said though he had consistently advised the people of the state
against taking the law into their hands, he was now losing control of
the people because of the persistent killing of innocent women and
children by Fulani herdsmen and the inaction of the federal government. Ortom continued, “You can see that it is getting beyond me. Even when
there was protest against the recent killings in Makurdi, and I went
there, there was massive resistance. It became violent and it is even
God that saved us. I would have been attacked.
“When I came into office, there was proliferation of arms and
ammunition in the state. I declared an amnesty programme that saw
massive retrieval of arms from our youths. I pleaded with them that the
way to develop is not by taking the laws into their hands but by obeying
the laws. I have resisted the temptation to say that our people should
protect themselves because I trusted the president.
“I believed that he has the capacity to protect us. But from what is
happening, I am sure some people around him are frustrating our
communication with him and the actions to be taken. Otherwise, the
president I know will not allow this kind of thing to be happening. We
have not committed any offence.
“We have no regret passing the anti-open grazing law. The law came as
a necessity because of the killings in Benue State by the herdsmen. We
sought peaceful ways of resolving the matter but we could not. “We tried everything under the sun to ensure that we stopped these
killings but it was not possible so we prayed and God gave us wisdom to
enact that law, which gives protection to the farmers and the herdsmen.
“We have not sent cattle rearers away from Benue, we are simply
saying there are modern ways of rearing cattle, which is to ranch them.
With that, farmers can go their legitimate ways of doing their business
and those who are rearing cattle can also continue. I am surprised at
the resistance of the herders.”
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