Reacting to the attack on the Southern and Middle Belt leaders and their description as political dinosaurs with nothing more to contribute to national development, by the chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF), Shettima, during the visit by the seven governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the publicity secretary of the Middle Belt Forum, Dr. Isuwa Dogo, said the visit of the governors was an afterthought.
He wondered where the governors were when the state and others in the Middle Belt were under the herdsmen’s siege and massive killings were going on.
“All this while, they never saw anything wrong about the killings and never thought it wise to visit Benue and other others states until the Southern and Middle Belt leaders did. When the whole world was condemning the killings in Benue and massive burial was going on. This same set of governors flew into Abuja to ask the president to run for the second term; that is why we say their visit to Benue a week after is an afterthought,” he said.
Dr. Dogo said “restructuring is the only solution to the myriad of problems confronting the country including the killings in the Middle Belt.”
In his reaction, the Secretary-General, Association of Middle Belt Ethnic Nationalities (ASOMBEN), Reverend James Pam said it was obvious and glaring that the far North “doesn’t have respect for the Middle Belt,” saying that was why many of them could not come up to condemn the killings over the years.
Pam, who disclosed that the Middle Belt and South-East would meet in Enugu State on Tuesday in what he described as a “Handshake Across the Benue,” said the meeting will focus on way to consolidate on the existing relationship between the geopolitical zones and work out modalities on how to sensitise the electorate about coming out to vote in 2019.
Tiv professional group insists on restructuring of Nigeria
The Tiv Professional Group has thrown its weight behind the alliance of the Southern and Middle Belt leaders, insisting that it had become imperative to restructure the country.
The group’s submission came barely a few hours after the northern governors led by the Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, paid a condolence visit to the state and slammed the southern leaders for allegedly inciting Benue.
This was just as the group called for “the immediate removal of the Inspector-General of Police,” accusing him of “complicity and open partisanship.”
Speaking at a press conference held at the old Banquet Hall of Government House, Makurdi, the chairman of the group, Professor Zacharys Gundu, called for the establishment of Middle Belt Development Commission and the payment of adequate compensation for lost lives and property in the Benue valley.
Gundu maintained that the group was in support of the anti-open grazing law enacted in the state, calling on the Federal Government to accept ranching as the best global practice and the only solution to the frequency clashes between herdsmen and farmers.
The group, in a statement made available to newsmen, stated that “not minding Shettima’s display of youthful exuberance and use of uncouth language in Makurdi on Friday, we commend the National Assembly and other socio-cultural groups including the Afenifere, Ohaneze Ndigbo, Middle Belt Forum and the South-South for their alliances and solidarity with the people of the state.”
The group, however, called on the international community to intervene and mount pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the senseless killings by herdsmen in Benue State.
Your visit is a mockery, group tells northern govs, demands apology
A group identified as Benue Advancement Forum described the visit of northern governors to the state over the killings of over 73 persons as belated, saying it was a mockery to the people of the state.
The northern governors had visited Benue State on Friday to commiserate with the state.
But the group pointed out how, throughout the statement by their spokesperson, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State, they refused to condemn the activities of the Fulani herdsmen.
While speaking with newsmen in Makurdi, on Saturday, the leader of the Benue Advancement Forum, Professor David Iornem, demanded outright apology, saying “there was no genuine intention in their visit but rather, they came to mock us.”
“Imagine them saying we have politicised the killings; it was an insult to the people of Benue. They should tender apology or else, we may be forced to back out of the northern forum,” the group said.
It also described Governor Samuel Ortom as the state’s hero following the enactment of the anti-open grazing law and vowed to not only support the law but also to ensure that it is fully implemented.
The group added that having considered the extent of damage and time the gruesome murders lasted and the lacklustre response of the President Muhammudu Buhari-led Federal Government, the group had been compelled to believe that the criminal element enjoyed the support of the government.
Benue indigenes protest in Enugu over herdsmen killings
Hundreds of indigenes of Benue State residing in five states of the South-East geopolitical zone staged a peaceful protest in Enugu over the incessant killings of their people in Benue by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
The protesters, drawn from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states, had initially planned to begin the peaceful demonstration at the Michael Okpara Square, Enugu, before they were stopped by the police and had to move to the Nike Lake Hotel at the outskirts of Enugu metropolis, apparently to avoid clashes with security operatives.
The spokesmen of the protesters, Chief Abel Abah, the Ochidoma of Enugu State; Reverend Ternenbe Tor Ruam of Universal Reformed Christian Church and Dr David Wayas of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), in their separate speeches, told reporters that they were under the auspices of “Concerned Benue Indigenes Resident in Eastern Nigeria,” appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari to do the needful by stopping the incessant killings.
They vowed to defend themselves if the authorities refuse to check the spate of killings in their home state, wondering why the Buhari-led Federal Government classified the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist group while the Fulani herdsmen who have been killing innocent people were left to roam the streets freely.
The group also expressed their support to the anti-grazing law enacted by their state governor, Mr Samuel Ortom, calling for its implementation. They also insisted that the anti-grazing law was meant to protect their people from the menace of Fulani herdsmen.
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