Herdsmen invading Benue again, Ortom raises the alarm

Seven months after the gruesome murder of two Catholic priests and 17 parishioners by suspected herdsmen, the St Ignatius Catholic Church at the rural Mbalom was on Friday re-opened.

During the special mass held at the community, Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom said that Fulani herdsmen have started making incursions into the state via Nasarawa State with the aim to wreak havoc.

Speaking on the attack on the priests and parishioners, the governor said  that people of the state will not forget the massacre of the priests and the parishioners in a haste.

Governor Ortom, who joined other Catholic faithful for the mass and ritual cleaning, expressed shock to receive the utterances of some politicians despite the overwhelming evidence and confessional statements of the Fulani herdsmen that they carried out the killings because there cows were allegedly rustled by Benue people.

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“The people of the state may forgive the perpetrators of the two priests and parishioners but it will be difficult to forget.

“As I was coming to this place this morning, I received message that Fulani herdsmen are moving from Nasarawa to Benue to cause problem,” Ortom said.

Also speaking, Bishop Anagbe said that the church has forgiven the killers of the priests and the parishioners.

He, however, condemned those insinuating that Benue people killed themselves.