Gov. Samuel Ortom challenged the federal government and the state government of Benue on Wednesday to work together to flush out armed herdsmen from neighboring states surrounding Benue.
The action, he claimed, will stop killer herdsmen from invading Benue communities, ‘who have continued to exploit the porous nature of the state borders to invade innocent communities on the Benue side of the border.’
Governor Ortom said this in response to the slaughter of scores of villagers from Ahentse village in Guma local government’s Ndzorov council ward.
Governor Samuel Ortom’s council ward is Nzorov. He conveyed his sorrow over the recent attack on Tse Ahentse, near Iyordye in Guma LGA, on Tuesday, March 8th, 2022, at dawn.
He said it was past time for the federal government to ‘intensify military operations in states that share common borders with Benue State because armed herders have turned their attention to these towns along the frontiers.’
In his words, “It is time to end this unnecessary shedding of innocent blood. We can do it if we cooperate with each other.’
He recalled how he and his counterparts had collaborated by having joint security and peace meetings in order to instill trust in the people and enable them to live in peace. in order for them to be able to live in harmony.
According to him, “The situation where killer herdsmen take shelters with our neighbours, sneak in and kill our people without provocation is unacceptable.
“This will not be tolerated any longer. Let the security agencies continue to cooperate with us in Benue to end this blood-letting. Let us dislodge these invaders from wherever they may be hiding for peace to return to our communities.”
Ortom commended security agencies for their steadfastness and commitment to ending the crises, and called on Benue people to begin to arm themselves with ‘lawful weapons as presecribed by law and defend themselves against the Fulani invaders’.
The governor said, “It is no longer fashionable to continue to cry out for help. We must now be alert and ready to confront these killers. This is another way we can assist the security agencies in combating this menace since they obviously overstrectched beyond limits.”
