Benue State Governor, Samuel
Ortom has declared that the state is currently on fire.
Ortom said he had to cut short
his vacation because of the senseless killing of his people by herdsmen.
Speaking shortly after arriving
the country from his holiday abroad, the emotion-laden governor asserted that
the climax of the whole attacks was the recent killing of two clerics and 17
others in the state.
The governor, who fought back
tears while addressing newsmen at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport,
Abuja, called on his people to get prepared.
He said, “There is no way my
state would be on fire with the magnitude of what we are seeing today and I’ll
still be on vacation. I cannot be on vacation when the entire state is on fire
to this magnitude. I never expected what is happening to have taken place. I
know my Deputy, the Acting Governor is doing his best.
“I’ve been in touch with him on
daily basis but at this particular time he needs me and other stakeholders of
the state to come together, and of course the Presidency, to stop this pogrom
that is going on. This is unwarranted. There is no basis for this whatsoever.
“The fact that we have chosen to
be law abiding should not be seen as weakness on our side but we’ve chosen that
we’ll support government and ensure that at all times we follow due process, we
respect the laws of the land and that is why we’ve not taken laws into our
hands.
“I’ll continue to appeal to our people
to be law abiding but this thing has to stop. Like I keep saying after Benue
it’ll be another state. So it’s not just about Benue. You can see the killings
going on all over the place. But the climax of this is the killing of clergymen
worshiping in the house of God.
“That is what has led me not to
even think about sleeping but to come back. I believe that the Presidency would
definitely act on this. We appreciate Mr. President for coming out to condemn
this act and I believe he will also direct that these people must be arrested
because they are known. The security operatives know where they are and there
is every need for us to support the security agencies because I’ve also
appreciated the fact that they’re really overwhelmed with the situation.
“The communities must come
together and do everything that is law abiding to defend themselves. I’ve
always said that self preservation is the first law of nature. There’s no point
running away. I’m aware that people who ran away to IDP camps were also killed
so why are you running? Those who did not run were killed, those who ran were
killed.
“So, it is better, if you make
some attempts and support the security agencies, you may have some way of
helping so there is no point running away. The Federal Government is aware of this,
the state Government is aware of this, and the security agencies are aware of
this but they are completely overwhelmed.
“Nigerians, Benue State people
must rise up so that together we can work with security agencies and see where
we can come in whether by way of logistics, by way of physical support to the
security agencies to ensure that they overcome this. It’ll be better for all of
us. There is no point running away.
“Every Benue State man and woman
must be prepared because Benue State is under siege and we have no other place
to go. We can’t go to any other state and take over the land of another state.
It’s a land we have and we must stand to defend it but we must be law abiding
in all that we’re going to do. I believe that based on the statement from the
Presidency action would be followed and these killings would stop.
“I want to condole Benue people
especially the Catholic Church. This is unwarranted, people who have made
sacrifice of their lives to preach peace and bring love for mankind to pass
through this kind of thing I think it’s unwarranted and this will not be
accepted.”
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