President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday met behind closed doors with a delegation of Benue state elders led by Governor Sam Ortom over the killings attributed to Fulani herdsmen in the state during which the delegation reaffirmed to the president that the state has no land to give out for the proposed cattle colony.
Governor Ortom briefed State House correspondents at the end of the meeting which came at the instance of the state government to discuss the lingering attacks in parts of the state.
With Governor Ortom in the meeting were his Deputy, Steve Abonu; former Senate President David Mark; Senators George Akume and Barnabas Gemade, and Tor Tiv, HRM James Ayatse, leading members of Benue Council of Chiefs, among others.
On the government side at the meeting include Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, Chief of Staff to the president, Abba Kyari, National Security Adviser (NSA) Babagana Monguno, ministers, Director General of Department of State Services, Lawal Daura, among others.
While noting that the state was opened to suggestions that would lead to the resolution of the crisis, Ortom maintained that Benue State has no land to provide for a cattle colony being proposed by the federal government.
He said: “As for the solution to the problem, we are open to suggestion from the federal government to find how we can find a lasting solution. The minister of agriculture happens to be a son of the soil. There are many options that are put on the table.
“Like I told you the last time I came here, I did not understand what colonies meant. Today, I was privileged to meet him (Minister of Agriculture) and he did explain to me that a colony is many ranches in one place, restricted in one place.
“So, for us in Benue State, there is no 10,000 hectares. They are looking for 5,000 hectares. We have no 10,000 hectares to allow it for that kind of a thing to take place.
“So, people are free. Other states have the land but we in Benue state we don’t have and that was what led to us enacting this law.”
The governor said the meeting was necessary for the view of the killing of tens of people while more than 60,000 people were displaced.
The governor explained: “We thought it was wise as the father of the land and as the President of our country there is need to meet with him to interface with him.
“At a personal level, I spoke to the president on phone on the 1st of January when this incident occurred and he responded promptly and I followed it up with a visit. He directed the relocation of IGP to Benue State in addition to sending additional troop from the military.”
While expressing confidence in the leadership of the president, Ortom pointed out that the situation in the state had calmed down even though he said some undesirable elements were trying to cash on it.
He assured that the anti-grazing law of the state was meant to protect all residents irrespective of their origin and business.
The governor maintained: “For us, we have seen that even before, the law killings were taking place even more than what we are witnessing today, that we are looking for ways of getting out of it. And today, we have found a way and that is the law which seeks to protect all.
“We are not seeing anyone away from Benue State. The herdsmen whether you are Igbo, Fulani, Hausa, Idoma, Tiv, anywhere you come from, you are free to follow the law, obtain a permit and then do the ranch and you are protected.
“Benue State will protect you from cattle rustlers when you do this and a farmer will also go to the farm without being intimidated or harassed by any herdsman.
“So, for us we wanted him to know our feelings as our Mr. President and that we have communicated and he has given us assurance that he is armed to ensure that the oath which he swore to protect lives and properties he will do it and Benue State cannot be an exception.”
Ortom said the delegation impressed upon the president the need to arrest and prosecute leaders of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore who he alleged were the instigators of the deadly attacks.
“But beyond that, we made a strong appeal to Mr. President to arrest those people that perpetrated this act, the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, because they are not above the law, they made inciting statements against our people and they came and perpetrated this act,” he declared.
Meanwhile, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has accused Governor Ortom of lying about the information allegedly passed to the Vice President about impending herdsmen attack in Logo and Guma local government areas of the state which took place on the 1st of January 2018.Benue.
The governor had alleged that he wrote to Osinbajo as acting president to intimate him about the attack and the need for preventive action but his letter was ignored.
But in a statement issued by his spokesman, Laolu Akande, in Abuja on Monday, Osinbajo said Ortom did not give any specific information on the attack.
Osinbajo said he was shocked by the statement, saying that the governor only protested media reports which suggested that Miyetti Allah was opposed to the state’s anti-grazing law.
The statement said although the Vice President does not believe that the Governor could ever have said so, “it will be a terrible falsehood to suggest that the VP was ever informed by the Governor or anyone else of the imminence of the killing of citizens of our country in those or any other local governments in Benue State.”
According to the statement, Governor Ortom wrote to the Vice President, then Acting President, on 7th June 2017 protesting a newspaper publication where the leadership of Miyetti Allah was reported to have stated that it was opposed to the Open Grazing Prohibition law of the State and that they would mobilise to resist the law.
It revealed that the Miyetti Allah had also written to the Vice President on the 5th of June 2017 on the same law protesting several sections of the law.
The statement added: “The Governor went on to say that the leadership of Miyetti Allah should be arrested because they used words such as ‘wicked, obnoxious and repressive,’ to describe the law and because these were “utterances that are capable of undermining the peace.’
“The Vice President subsequently met with the Governor, discussed the matter and the security situation in the State and then ordered law enforcement agencies to be on the alert to prevent any attacks or violence. This was in June 2017!
“In the said letter written by the Governor, there was no mention of any threat to any specific one of the 23 local governments of Benue State, so the best the law enforcement agencies could do even then was to await information or intelligence of an imminent attack. None came.
“Since then the VP has held several meetings with the Benue State Governor, including a visit to the State on the 6th of September, last year at the behest of Mr. President during the tragic floods in the state last year.
“At all such meetings, the Vice President discussed the security situation of the State with the Governor.
“Following that, the then Acting President convened a major national security retreat which was attended by all State Governors, service chiefs and heads of security agencies. The Retreat featured very detailed discussions on the herdsmen/ farmers’ clashes.
“To the best of our knowledge, neither Governor Ortom nor the Federal Government was aware of the imminence of the cowardly attack on Logo and Guma on the 1st of January, and therefore any suggestion that the President or the Vice President ignored the State Governor’s warning is both absolutely false and certainly misleading.”
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