It is no longer fashionable to cry over herders’ killings, Ortom tells Benue people

Published by

3 years ago

Governor Ortom

Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom again called on the people of the state to take up arms (legal) and confront the killer herders that are daily terrorising their communities.

Governor Ortom who was reacting to the killing of five people at Tse Ahentse in Guma local government area (where he hails from) of the state, Ortom said that it is no longer fashionable to be crying each time the killer herders stormed their communities.

The chairman of Guma local government, Caleb Aba on Wednesday told newsmen on the invasion of Ahentse community by herders while they were asleep, adding that five people were killed.

Reacting to the killing, governor Ortom called on the federal government to synergise with his administration and step up military operations that will flush out armed herdsmen from neighbouring states bordering Benue.

According to the governor, this will help end the invasion of Benue communities by killer herdsmen who have continued to use the porous nature of the state borders to invade hapless communities on the Benue side of the border.

In a statement issued by his media aide, Nathaniel Ikyur and made available to newsmen in Makurdi on Wednesday, Governor Ortom said it was time the federal government further “steps up the military operations in states that share common boundaries with Benue state because these communities along the borders have become targets of the armed herders.”

“It is time to end this unnecessary shedding of innocent blood. We can do it if we cooperate with each other,” the governor said in a statement by his media office.

“The situation where killer herdsmen take shelter with our neighbours, sneak in and kill our people without provocation will not be tolerated any longer.

“Let the security agencies continue to cooperate with us in Benue to end this bloodletting. Let us dislodge these invaders from wherever they may be hiding for peace to return to our communities.”

The Governor while commending the security agencies for their steadfastness and commitment to ending the crises, called on Benue people to begin to arm themselves with “lawful weapons as prescribed by law and defend themselves against the Fulani invaders.”

“It is no longer fashionable to continue to cry out for help. We must now be alert and ready to confront these killers. This is another way we can assist the security agencies in combating this menace since they obviously overstretched beyond limits,” Ortom said.

IN CASE YOU MISSED THESE FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE