Benue is under siege! Governor Ortom declares. Orders Fulani herdsmen/terrorists out of the state

Benue is under siege! Governor Ortom declares. Orders Fulani herdsmen/terrorists out of the state

The Benue State governor, has finally declared that his state is under siege by Fulani terrorists. Samuel Ortom, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governor of the state has been very reluctant to condemn the Fulani atrocities in his state, because of their very close ethnic and political links with his party's leader, General Muhammadu Buhari. He fears he would be victimised by tyrannical Buhari, who has already lied that the terrorists were from Libya in order to shield them from prosecution.

Daring all consequences, and apparently miffed by the incessant attacks on farmers in Benue State by Fulani terrorists, Ortom, yesterday raised the alarm that the state is under siege.

Today News, reports that the governor, who was reacting to the weekend’s attacks on Agwabi village in Binev Council Ward in Buruku Local Government Area of the state, called on the herdsmen to vacate the state immediately before the people resort to self-defence as they have been pushed to the wall.

Ortom, who lamented the attacks, noted that the herdsmen have virtually taken over the entire land in the state, stressing that enough is enough for the rampant killings of his people.

“This is an unfortunate situation that has been happening to us in Benue State. I have been crying all over the place and making appeals because we are under siege by the herdsmen, you push them away from one end, they will go to another end of the state,” the governor lamented.

According to him, it is a bad situation now to see how every day our people are being killed, raped by these mercenaries, who do not have respect for rule of law and for security personnel.

Ortom said: “These are wicked mercenaries under the guise of herdsmen attacking us and taken over our farmlands. I have said it several times that we do not have land for grazing in the state, let them move out of the state. There is a limit to which I can appeal to my people to restrain themselves from reprisal attacks, if all of them are killed then I will be the next target.”

Alluding to allegation that the youths in the state are rustling Fulani cows, the governor denied the allegation saying, “it is the criminal elements among the herdsmen that always steal their cows,” arguing whether rustling of cows is commensurate with the human lives they take.