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Tag: Benue

  • Pst. Adeboye weeps in Benue says ‘No man of God will see mass burial and not feel pains’

    The General Overseer, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, on Friday condemned the mindless killings of people by Fulani herdsmen in Benue State and other parts of the country.

    Adeboye, alongside his wife, Folu, made his feelings known when he visited Benue to condole with Governor Samuel Ortom and pray for the government and people of the state over the killings by suspected herdsmen.

    The cleric called for a halt to the killings.

    Speaking to the gathering, Pastor Adeboye said he did not visit the state before the President did so that politicians would not read meaning into his action.

    He said Benue State was very dear to his heart and that he had felt every pain the people felt, saying he wept when he saw the people weeping.

    “Of course, no man of God will see a mass burial anywhere and not feel the pains of the people affected.

    “We want these killings to stop. Happily, we know someone who can stop it.

    “He is the almighty God, He does not fail or compromise, He is the God of all.

    “We will continue to call on Him to fight this battle and you can be assured that victory will be certain.”

    Earlier, Governor Ortom had lamented that the incursions of herdsmen into the state, apart from leading to the deaths of many, had created a huge humanitarian crisis in the state.

    He appealed to the church to sustain prayers for the government and people of the state, “given the enormous challenge the crisis posed to the wellbeing of the people of the state.”

  • Killings: I didn’t abandon Benue during herdsmen, farmers clashes – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said he didn’t abandon Benue State during the herdsmen and farmers clashes that claimed 73 lives.

    The president also said that government was deeply worried about the incessant attacks on Benue’s rural communities, and vowed to end the menace “very soon”.

    The president said this on Monday when he visited the state.

    He also met with farmers, herdsmen, government officials and other stakeholders as part efforts to resolving the crisis.

    “I cannot overlook the killings in Benue or any other part of Nigeria. I cannot do that. I am genuinely worried about the attacks in Benue and we are doing everything to end them,” he said.

    He said that the insecurity in some states was a major concern to his government, adding that concerted efforts were being made to restore normalcy to every part of the country.

    He, however, said that the meeting was not the best place to expose the inefficiency of his appointees, and appealed to Benue people to exercise restraint and live in peace with their neighbours.

    Buhari appealed to the people to pay more attention to farming, especially rice cultivation, saying that rice importation had dropped by 90 per cent since some states embarked on massive production of the commodity.

    Speaking earlier, Gov Samuel Ortom appealed to the President to upgrade the ongoing military exercise in the state tagged “Ayem Akpatema”, to a wider operation to effectively curb herdsmen attacks.

    “If the exercise is upgraded to a wider operation, it will assist greatly in ending the incessant attacks and senseless killings by herdsmen,” he said

    He urged Benue people to learn to live in peace with other people.

    Ortom said that many states were currently involved in massive cultivation of rice, and urged his people to join the trend.

    The governor reiterated his call for the arrest of the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, alleging that the body was responsible for the killings in Benue.

    Ortom maintained that ranching was the best option for cattle breeding in Nigeria, and advised herdsmen to embrace it so as to minimise the clashes caused by open grazing.

    He also called on the federal government to take over the management of the Benue University Teaching Hospital, College of Education, Katsina-Ala and Benue Polytechnic, Ugbokolo.

    Malam Shetima Mohammed, a representative of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Benue Chapter, however, denied responsibility for the Benue attacks.

    “Our association is a peace loving one and the exact opposite of what is being portrayed,” he declared.

  • Photos: Buhari returns to Abuja as ‘mammoth silence’ welcomes him in Benue [Photos]

    President Muhammadu Buhari has on Monday returned to Abuja after paying quick visit to commiserate with the people over the New Year killings that claimed the lives of 73 innocent citizens.

    Unlike his visit to Plateau State where he was welcomed by a mammoth crowd, this time, The President was received in Benue by the silence of graveyard which some of the critics of the Buhari-led government have said informed his decision to shorten his stay in the state.

    Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, lampooned the presidency for not sharing photos of Buhari’s visit to Benue like they did when he visited Plateau.

    His return to Abuja was announced on Twitter by his media aide, Bashir Ahmad, who confirmed that the President is back in Abuja and now in a closed-door meeting with United States’ Secretary of State, Mr. Rex Tillerson at the Presidential Villa.

    While addressing the President former Governor of Benue State and serving Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, George Akume, has informed President Muhammadu Buhari that his people are not happy with him for his cold reaction over the killing of his kinsmen in the state.

    Akume recalled that Benue people overwhelmingly voted for Buhari in 2015 despite the fact the then Senate President, David Mark, who is a member of the PDP hailed from the state.

    He said, “Your Excellency, you could recall that Senator David Mark was Senate President while Suswam was the Chief Security of the State, yet the Tiv people voted for you in 2015.

    “We have no federal project in Benue State, Ortom does not make law, Benue People made the law, JS Tarka fought for the unity of our country Nigeria, Mr. President the Tiv people are not happy about your reaction towards the killing of Tiv farmers by Fulani herdsman.”

     

  • Killings: I’m shocked IG spent less than 24hrs in Benue after directing him to relocate – Buhari

    Killings: I’m shocked IG spent less than 24hrs in Benue after directing him to relocate – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday expressed shock that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris spent less than twenty-four hours (24hrs) in troubled Benue after initially directing him to relocate to the state and remain until peace was restored.

    The president also said that government was deeply worried about the incessant attacks on Benue’s rural communities, and vowed to end the menace “very soon”.

    Buhari, who met with farmers, herdsmen, government officials and other stakeholders in Makurdi, denied insinuations that he was not interested in what was happening to the north-central state.

    The president said he was surprised at the revelation that the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, did not spend 24 hours in Benue, when he directed him to relocate to the state and remain there till peace was restored.

    “I am getting to know this in this meeting. I am quite surprised,” he said.

    He, however, said that the meeting was not the best place to expose the inefficiency of his appointees, and appealed to Benue people to exercise restraint and live in peace with their neighbours.

    Buhari appealed to the people to pay more attention to farming, especially rice cultivation, saying that rice importation had dropped by 90 per cent since some states embarked on massive production of the commodity.

    Speaking earlier, Gov Samuel Ortom appealed to the President to upgrade the ongoing military exercise in the state tagged “Ayem Akpatema”, to a wider operation to effectively curb herdsmen attacks.

    “If the exercise is upgraded to a wider operation, it will assist greatly in ending the incessant attacks and senseless killings by herdsmen,” he said

    He urged Benue people to learn to live in peace with other people.

    Ortom said that many states were currently involved in massive cultivation of rice, and urged his people to join the trend.

    The governor reiterated his call for the arrest of the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, alleging that the body was responsible for the killings in Benue.

    Ortom maintained that ranching was the best option for cattle breeding in Nigeria, and advised herdsmen to embrace it so as to minimise the clashes caused by open grazing.

    He also called on the federal government to take over the management of the Benue University Teaching Hospital, College of Education, Katsina-Ala and Benue Polytechnic, Ugbokolo.

    Malam Shetima Mohammed, a representative of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Benue Chapter, however, denied responsibility for the Benue attacks.

    “Our association is a peace loving one and the exact opposite of what is being portrayed,” he declared.

  • Benue killings: Obasanjo pays condolence visit to graveyards of victims [Photos]

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday visited the graveyard of the 73 persons killed by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.

    The former President is in Benue, in solidarity with the governor and people of the state over the incessant killings and attacks by suspected herdsmen.

    He was received at the airport by the state Governor Samuel Ortom and other top government officials in the state.

    Not less than 158 persons have been reported killed in the sate as a result of sustained herdsmen attacks in the state since the January 11th, an event that led to a mass burial and protest by youths in Makurdi, the state capital.

    The former President is expected to visit the mass burial grave site and also meet stakeholders at the government house.

    He is also expected to visit the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp located in Agan Toll Gate, where over 34, displaced residents of the state are taking refuge.

  • Herdsmen attack: Benue set to receive Buhari, postpones mass burial for 24 victims

    Benue State Government has cancelled the planned mass burial for victims of Fulani herdsmen attack in Okpokwu.

    The government had promised to accord all the 24 victims of the Omusu Edimoga herdsmen attack a mass burial on Friday (today).

    Governor Samuel Ortom made the announcement for the burial during his visit to Omusu Edimoga in Okpokwu Local Government Area of the state, where the attack took place on Monday, March 5, 2018.

    The herdsmen were said to have invaded the community between 2pm and 3pm on the said day, following an earlier allegation that villagers had stolen some of their cattle.

    Some children who were killed during the incident were said to be returning from school.

    Twenty four persons were said to have been killed during the attack which left many people injured and several persons missing.

    In a press statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, the governor said, “There wouldn’t be mass burial of victims of Fulani herdsmen attacks in Okpokwu.”

    No reason was given for the cancellation of the mass burial

    The statement added that the burial will now take place next week Thursday.

    According to the statement, “A church service, followed by burial of the victims, will take place on Thursday, next week at Okpokwu.”

    Meanwhile, Governor Samuel Ortom has announced that President Muhammad Buhari will be visiting the state on Monday.

  • Massacre: Again, Benue to give mass burial to 24 victims

    Governor Samuel Ortom has directed that the 24 persons killed on Monday at Omusu Edimoga be given mass burial next Friday.

    According to his media adviser, Tahav Agerzua, the governor ordered that the victims of the herdsmen attacks be buried Friday

    He said, “Governor directed that arrangement be made for mass burial by next Friday.”

     

    Details later…

  • Herdsmen/farmers clashes: Why I didn’t rush to Taraba, Benue, other troubled states – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on explained why he didn’t rush to some troubled states despite the criticisms.

    The president reiterated that he has his way of monitoring developments instead of “rushing” to crises spots and “making noise”.

    Buhari spoke in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, during his visit to assess the situation in the state and condole with victims of violence.

    No fewer than 200 people are believed to have been killed in communal disputes, herders/farmers clashes and others in the state.

    Many of the dead were buried in mass graves. Many are injured and hospitalised. Others have been forced out of their homes.

    The local government areas worst- hit by the herdsmen/farmers crisis are: Lau, Ibi, Gassol, Bali, Wukari, Takum and Sardauna where scores were killed in renewed violence at the weekend.

    Leaders of the violence-hit communities were at the Government House yesterday to meet with the President, who urged all Nigerians to embrace peace and live together in harmony so that “there could be meaningful development and not destruction”.

    “I am here (Taraba) to meet with the leadership of the state, to offer my condolences to those who lost loved ones and properties in violence.

    “People, sometimes expect me to rush out to the fields, to go and make noise.

    “But I have my ways of gathering intelligence. I get to know what is happening across the country without necessarily going to those areas.

    “I will be going to Benue and Zamfara after I return from Ghana to also condole with the people,” Buhari said.

    He urged traditional rulers in the state to step up activities in their various chiefdoms to foster peaceful coexistence among their subjects and to remain vigilant at all times.

    The President was accompanied by Minister of Women Affairs Hajia Aisha Alhassan , Minister of Defence Manir Dan Ali; Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed, some Service Chiefs and National Assembly members from the state.

    The delegation was received by Governor Darius Ishaku and state’s lawmakers, led by the speaker.

    President Buhari said he chose to visit Taraba first, before Benue and Zamfara states, adding that there were more killings in Taraba, Benue and Zamfara states.

    Ishaku said the state was delighted to welcome the President in its trying time.

    The governor noted that Taraba State was a “mini Nigeria”, with its over 80 ethnic groups and three religions to handle. “It is not easy to always balance things up here.”

    Ishaku said the state was contending with a different breed of herdsmen who are militias moving around with AK 47 rifles to remove anything in their way, unlike the known herdsmen who had cohabited with the people for decades without skirmishes.

    “The problem is never between the locals. The local Fulani and other tribes blend without issues.

    “We have a new breed and specie of herdsmen militias who move around with sophisticated weapons; they are poised to remove anything in their track.

    “They must be arrested now before it degenerates to something we can not contend with,” Ishaku said.

    Opinion leaders from the warring ethnic groups insisted that justice and fairness must be seen to be taking their course and the rule of law allowed to prevail for peace to return.

    The President is also expected to visit Yoe State where 110 girls were kidnapped on February 19 and Rivers State where many people were killed in New Year’s Day attack perpetrated by the late Don Wayne.

    In a statement, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Femi Adesina said the President had urged the Armed Forces and other security agencies to compile comprehensive reports on the various incidents.

    “Having received and studied the reports, the President has decided to undertake an on the spot assessment of the various occurrences and to meet and console the communities affected.

    Adesina said: “From today, March 5, he will visit Taraba, and subsequently Benue, Yobe, Zamfara and Rivers states.

    “President Buhari has been receiving daily briefings, and has been in constant touch with the governors, and has been updated with situation reports.”

    The President has also called on all Nigerians, especially those in the affected areas, to cooperate fully with the security agencies to enable them curb the spate of crimes, bring those responsible to justice and prevent furthe

  • Visit: Residents of Taraba, Benue, others won’t be hoodwinked by your ‘cosmetic sympathy’, Fayose tells Buhari

    Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has said residents of troubled Taraba, Benue, Zamfara, Yobe and Rivers states won’t be hoodwinked by President Muhammadu Buhari’s belated visit.

    The governor emphasized that the president never deemed it fit to visit the states when it matters most.

    Fayose, in a statement issued on Monday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said it was the height of cruelty that the same President, who promised to lead from the front in the fight against Boko Haram, could not visit Dapchi, Yobe State where 110 school girls were abducted by the insurgents but went on merrymaking in Kano.

    “On January 9 and 12, this year, 88 victims of herdsmen attacks were given mass burial in Taraba State. Also on January 11, 2018, another 73 persons killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Benue State were buried in a mass grave in Makurdi, the state capital.

    “Meaning that in Taraba and Benue States alone, 161 Nigerians were given mass burial within three days! This never caught the attention of our President. Rather, it was a visit to Nasarawa, a neighboring State to Benue that was important to him.

    “To further demonstrate his lack of compassion for Nigerians, while the entire nation, especially parents of the 110 abducted school girls in Dapchi, Yobe State are still in anguish, President Buhari went to Kano last Saturday to attend a social function, thus sparking negative reactions from Nigerians.

    “Apparently, it was the negative reactions of Nigerians, especially on Social Media and the effects on the President’s reelection bid that necessitated his hurried visit to Taraba State today, and planned visits to Benue, Zamfara, Yobe and Rivers States.

    “I am sure the people of Taraba State won’t be hoodwinked by the President’s cosmetic sympathy, show of concern and crocodile tears, which he never bordered to shed when hundreds of indigenes of the State were being killed by suspected herdsmen,” the governor said.”

  • Again, troops nab seven herdsmen in Benue destroying farmlands

    Troops again have arrested seven herdsmen in Benue while they were reportedly destroying farmlands with their cattle on Wednesday.

    This brings the number of herdsmen arrested for such crime to 17 in the last four days.

    Earlier, 10 herdsmen were nabbed on Monday while destroying farmland at Tse-Tigir and Tse-Ndugh villages of the state.

    The Director of Army Public Relations, Texas Chukwu, said in a statement on Thursday that troops arrested four of the suspects at Gbajimba-Kaseyo-Awe and picked three along Buruku-Uba-Abeda-Ameh and Fadama Kuturu on Wednesday.

    Chukwu said that a large number of weapons were recovered from the arrested herdsmen.

    In another development, the army spokesman said Special Forces responded to a distress call on Wednesday along Okene-Lokoja road engaged a gang of suspected kidnappers.

    He said that based on information, the kidnappers had abducted one Alhaji Momoh on Feb. 18.

    Chukwu said that during the fire fight, the kidnappers abandoned their location and fled into bush but added that the troops would trail and arrest them.

    The army launched “Exercise Ayem Akpatuma – Cat Race’’ on February 15, to address recurring herdsmen/farmers clashes and other forms of criminality in Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Niger and Kogi states.