Governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom has revealed that he extended an invitation to President Buhari to come to Benue and console with victims of Fulani herdsmen attacks, but it wasn’t honored.
Speaking on a television programme last weekend, Ortom said that as president, it was Buhari’s duty to provide citizens of the country with security but failed to take action to curb the killings. In his words;
“We invited the president when we visited him in Abuja; that he should come to Benue state and extend his condolences to his people. Because we are members of the party, he is our president. If these people are attacking us, we expect him to give us security.
He has done a number of things. He directed NEMA to provide relief materials, he also asked for security to be beefed up but I am not satisfied with what the presidency is doing on this matter. There is no doubt about that.
I ask for justice for Benue people because we have not been treated fairly… These herdsmen militia even killed policemen. The herdmen have gone beyond grazing. It’s about taking over our lands. For now, my primary concern is to stop these killings; to ensure that the Internally Displaced Persons go back to their homes and live peacefully. Once that is done, we can talk about other things.
I don’t care about what happens tomorrow. Even if I am not governor, I can stay back and fight for the right of my people.
Ortom further stated that the attacks by herdsmen in the state are acts of vengeance for losing the 1804 Jihad. because Benue people stopped them from entering the state through Sokoto.
“They are convening international conferences, issuing press releases and writing on social media and they have come out to say ‘look, in 1804 Jihad, it was Benue people who stopped them from penetrating from Sokoto to the sea. And this time around, they are not going to stop.’
They will make sure that the mobilise all Fulani men across the globe, especially from the West African sub-region to ensure that they acquire arms and come and invade and take over the land because they also said that Nigeria is the only land that God has given them, so no other person will supervene on this land except them. That it is their own land, they got this land by conquest and we have no business staying on this land. It is unbelievable. The statement is coming from Miyetti Allah.”
