Ex-president, Obasanjo visits grave site of victims of herdsmen in Benue

FORMER president Olusegun Obasanjo paid a surprise visit to Benue State on Saturday and lamented that with the incessant killings of innocent persons, Nigeria is yet to get it right.

The former president’s visit came less than 48 hours to the visit of president Muhammadu Buhari to the state which is expected to be on Monday.

The visit of the former president did not last more than one and half hours as his flight touched down at the Makurdi airport around 9.30 am and was immediately driven to the grave site where he laid a wreath and returned to the airport and the flight left around 10.59am.

The former president told newsmen at the grave site that incessant killings of innocent people have shown that the country was yet to get it right.

According to him, ‘There is no doubts that we haven’t got it right because whatever is behind this is not good at all.”

He described as, ‘sad and beyond description the killings in the state and consoled the government and people of the state over the loss of the innocent souls.

Chief Obasanjo said that his coming to the grave site and a laid wreath had expressed his sorrow and sympathy and empathy with the government and families of the departed souls.

The former president further said, ‘am here to pay a condolence visit and share the sadness of Benue people with them. I felt coming to the gravesite and laying a wreath will express my sorrow and my sympathy and empathy for the families, governor and all the people of the state and indeed all Nigerians without any exception.

While fielding question from newsmen about his feelings with more killings in the state after the mass burial the former president said that the continuous killings were shocking to him and all Nigerians.

According to him, ‘Hearing that aside the 73 buried here, more than 80 others have been killed is even more shocking to me and to all Nigerians.”

He called on the government to find out reasons for the senseless killings so that lasting solution could be proffered.

“We must get to the root of this until then we will be assuming what is not assumable, we must know why it is happening and why we must put an end to it, someone must take responsibility to put an end to it.”

“We cannot talk of a free, secure country where we will want development to take place and investor to come to be suffering in this type of senselessness. I do hope that there would be an end to this.”

• Benue cancels mass burial as Buhari visits state on Monday

Chief Obasanjo charged the state governor, Samuel Ortom not to give up but advised him to work with the people of like minds in the state and have the interest of the state and Nigeria at heart so as to find a solution to the problem.

The former president explained that he left Maiduguri to the state after discovering that governor Ortom who could have attended the meeting of stakeholders on Zero Hunger was conspicuously absent after he had held the maiden meeting.

The former president said that nothing could be worst than what we have seen here; gravesite of innocent people who should not have died that have died.