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Tag: Ortom

  • Governors Ortom, Ishaku attack Emir Sanusi for accusing them of sponsoring militia

    Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom and his Taraba State counterpart, Mr Darius Ishaka, have hit out at the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, after he accused him of sponsoring the militia causing havoc in the states.

    Sanusi claims Ortom training militia to attack the herdsmen.

    During a meeting with the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in Niger State, Sanusi regretted the attitude of the states towards open grazing.

    He said: “We hope that the Vice President will speak to the Governors of Taraba and Benue in particular, on the manner the militias have continued to implement these obnoxious and unconstitutional laws”.

    “We hope that he will speak to the governors and the traditional rulers of the Bachama, the Tivs. This country cannot afford ethnic conflicts and hopefully we will sit down with them and find a way forward.”

    Reacting to the statement, Ortom’s Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, absolved his principal of the allegations.

    Akase argued that if the Governor was sponsoring the militia, they would not have launched an attack on the state.

    Similarly, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Ishaku on Media and Publicity, Bala Abu, described the allegation as “false and unfair.”

    “The government has not recruited militia and is not involved in the training of such people anywhere in or outside of the state.

    “The government advises the Emir to rather use his vantage position as a traditional and religious leader to complement the peace efforts of the government than raise unnecessary alarm capable of causing disaffection among the peace-loving people of Taraba State,” Abu said in a statement.

  • Defend yourselves order: Beginning of the end? – Godwin Etakibuebu

    Godwin Etakibuebu

    The Executive Governor of Benue State was reported last week as calling on his people; all over the State, to defend themselves against the onslaught of the Fulani herdsmen in the State. It must have been a clarion call from a frustrated State’s Chief Executive who is saddened and tired of burying his people on daily basis without any help from the federal government.

    This is how the governor put it: “I think the people should have the right to defend themselves and not make themselves easy prey to be killed in their homes. Defend yourselves lawfully. So any lawful means you can adopt to defend yourselves in Benue State, just go ahead. We are not going to wait for the Inspector-General of Police to do it because he has failed in his assignment”.

    From the statement of the governor, quoted above and which he has not been denied up till date but instead, has reiterated and even escalated into a national debate, there is no denying the fact that the man’s desperate efforts in securing his people through the Nigerian centralized security system failed woefully. Interpreting his clarion call for
    “self-defense” further, one would see that the federal government agencies saddled with the responsibility of securing lives and properties of Nigerians, as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution, failed the people of Benue State.

    The governor backed his accusation of the Nigerian State Security’s failure [in defending his people] with some hard facts; facts that the federal government is unable to dispute. What therefore is the implication of this call – “defend yourselves legally” – for both Benue State and the Nigerian Nation? We may be missing the devastative implication of this call unless we understand the origin of the Mafia and its Omerta. Let us take a very brief journey to the hilly Region of Sicily in North Italy, where “some gentlemen”, actually called “honourable” originated the rule of self-defense later to be known as ‘La Cosa Nostra Omerta”.

    It is the invasion of some powerful foreigners into the Sicily region and forcefully taken over the land of the aborigines with iron-fist domination, and without any help from the central government that encouraged “some individual honourable men in uniting against tyranny”. So, Mafia was originally formed to “oppose tyranny of oppressed leadership”. Mafia therefore is coming together of tightly knitted people of the same mind, and agreeing on the same mission with the same objectives, standing in unity against one identifiable powerful enemy; with a pathological resolution of subduing the powerful one [which could be individual, organization, corporation or government], applying rules of internal justice [omerta] defined by the brotherhood”.

    It is for the reason of the “alliance” that it is called “Family Affairs”. In prosecuting its aims and objectives, the Mafioso [individual members of the Mafia] takes nothing personal, even if there is killing, it is purely for “business interest in defending the survival of the group” – the Mafia. With time, through the ruthless application of the “omerta”, this organized people were able to rescue themselves from the oppressive machinery of the leadership and they were able to push the foreign invaders; with tendency of annexure, away.

    By the beginning of the 19th century, the Mafia has grown beyond total control of legitimacy except, and strictly except by total adherence to the “Omerta”. The norms were lost while the contrary became the order of the day. This was the situation before the “La Cosa Nostra” was shipped abroad from Italy, first to America and then to major countries of the world. And as of the time this “Product” {Mafia] was exported to the larger world, the organization of these “honourable men” have professionalized and segmented into specialization of different “businesses or trades”. It has, as of the time, metamorphosed into totalitarian criminality.

    Enough of discussing the origin and growth of the Mafia while we move to look at the lessons we can pull from this short narrative in a scenario when a people is forced to say “let us defend ourselves due to the failure of constituted governmental authority”. The first lesson we must take a critical look at is that the Mafia did not start as a criminal organization. It was not even formed for that purpose – criminality. It was formed to defend the right to live and enjoy constitutionally given rights and privileges at a time these rights and privileges were being taken away arbitrarily by the government that ought to have protected them.

    The second lesson we must not forget in hurry from the emergence of the Mafia is that when a people are “forced to the extreme of endurance and perseverance, the otherwise good and governable people can become violent in preserving their identity, environment, land, culture, history and heritage”. The governable man and woman of yesterday could become ungovernable today – it is all about garbage in and garbage out. It is all about the government performing its bits and the governed doing its bits.

    A former Chief Justice of America once said that “any man that has the right to give good judgment has the right also to give bad judgment because the difference between bad and good judgments is too narrow.” Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party and Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 made a statement in 1925 [as a Sergeant in the Germany Army then] that “if the State becomes a machinery of oppression, rebellion is not only a right but a duty for the citizenry”. This is to say that those in governmental authority must always be very “faithful and deliberately conscious in prosecuting their official responsibilities over the citizenry as actions and reactions are proportionate are more than just being equal in real life”.

    The third lesson we can run away with from the Mafia history narrated is that whenever a normal and responsible citizen is caged like a wild beast such person, so caged, reacts like a wild beast and the end is anachronistic. This is the reality of life because violence is not monopoly of any individual or group of people. One respect here deserves another respect there. That is just natural justice. In life, the tide can always turn, and it is always turning, as such there is nothing sacrosanct about rigidity, instead, flexibility is the only navigational waters to safety, peace and tranquility. Let us go back to evaluate the essentials of Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State clarion call for self-defense and to identify the necessities.

    Governor Ortom said the call for the people to defend themselves became necessary because the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris who should enforce security and safety of the people was playing politics with the unending killings in the state, and becoming the mouthpiece of the murderers of Benue people. Could this accusation be true? The governor seemed to have proved it by his analysis and yet, the Police are not countering these glaring facts of allegation. Listen further to what the Governor said about the Inspector General of Police.

    “The Police said they arrested Livestock Guard members and termed them a militia group from Benue. It’s just a diversion from the main issue. If you want to hang a dog, you give it a bad name. That is what the Inspector General of Police is doing; he is the mouthpiece of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore. That is what the man represents. He should, therefore, resign his current position to serve full time in his new job. So bad, they plant weapons on people and take their pictures and claim they are Benue Livestock Guards. Those people are not members of our Livestock Guard. It is just a planned thing”.

    “The fact is that I am facing a lot of intimidation and blackmail but I am firm and strong because I have trust in God. There are threats, even on my life, it is on record that I reported to the Police and those people responsible have not been arrested. “People say they are going to kill the governor. Is that not grievous enough to arrest the people concerned? “Miyetti came out and owned up and threatened that bloodshed will continue in Benue. Is it not enough evidence for the Inspector-General of Police to arrest one person out of the group? “Fulani militia have come out in video to display the kind of weapons that they have and everyone has seen it; that is also not enough for the IGP to arrest these people”.

    We should not forget what the Governor said earlier when he alleged that he reported everything to the President of the Federal Republic and as well as to the Vice President but there was a conspiracy of silence from those quarters. When the Governor led Benue leaders of thought to meet with President Buhari in Abuja, the President was quoted as telling his visitors to “learn and tolerate living with their brothers”, referring to the Fulani Herdsmen.

    These are more than enough reason for a good and genuine leader to look for an alternative ways of survival for those that elected him into office. This must have be the reason of the clarion call for self-defense. Though the extent of the “instrument of self-defense” in this clarion call is not defined beyond “legality”, the historical narrative of the Sicily Mafia should be enough to tell us that the “rule of black market are not always legal” hence it is not a wise thing to push people from the open democratic ethos of public discussion into sinister practice of the black market”.

    With the presence of cows everywhere in Nigeria, including classrooms of most States in the South; some even climbing pedestrian bridges in Lagos, and with the audacity of killing with sophisticated weapons of AK 47 caliber by the Fulani herdsmen, and without challenge from the Nigerian centralized security outfits, it is not the best time to encourage [by conspiracy of silence from Federal Leaders] Regional or States leaders falling into the classroom of self-defense. A word should be enough for the wise.

    Godwin Etakibuebu, a veteran Journalist, wrote from Lagos.

  • Herdsmen crisis: Nothing negative must happen to Ortom, group tells IGP

    Sequel to the recent killings by some Fulani herdsmen in Benue State and the subsequent face-off between Governor Samuel Ortom and the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, an Abuja-based civil society organisation, the Sanctity Transparency Peace Initiative, has warned IG that nothing negative must happen to the governor.

    The group also called on the police boss to come clean on the alleged complicity of the police and it’s alleged negligence which it said had worsened the herdsmen crisis across the country.

    In a communiqué issued after its emergency meeting in Abuja on Friday, the group condemned what it described as the deteriorating security situation in Benue and other parts of the country, saying the killings had continued unabated.

    In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Mr. Sunday Alakho, the group said that the IGP’s initial description of the mass murder of innocent villagers by herdsmen as a mere communal clash was “callous and insensitive, and targeted at people crying out for justice.”

    He also expressed the group’s deep concern over remarks credited to the IGP that the implementation of the Open Grazing Prohibition Law was responsible for the killings, saying he wondered if the same law was responsible for the herdsmen mayhem in Plateau and other states, where such laws do not exist.

    He maintained that the complicity of the police was confirmed when the Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood referred to the governor as a “drowning man.”

    Alakho demanded a full public explanation from the police authorities on what it meant by branding a governor as a “drowning man,” saying such could be interpreted to mean the safety of the governor was being endangered.

    He, therefore, demanded a public pronouncement by the police guaranteeing the safety of Governor Ortom, adding that the IGP should resign if he could not ensure the safety of lives and property in the troubled region.

     

  • Herdsmen: ‘Defend yourselves against further attacks’ Ortom tells Benue residents

    Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has Tuesday charges residents in the state to defend themselves against further attacks by Fulani herdsmen.

    Ortom said this on a radio programme in the state on Tuesday.

    The governor noted that in spite of the presence of policemen in the state, killings were still going on in two local government areas.

    He flayed the statement credited to the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, which blamed the anti-open grazing law for the New Year attacks, saying it encouraged the herdsmen to carry out more attacks on the state.

    He said, “I think the people should have the right to defend themselves and not to make themselves easy preys to be killed in their homes.

    “So any lawful means you can adopt to defend yourself, just go ahead in Benue State. We are not going to wait for the Inspector-General of Police to do it.”

    The governor however commiserated with the families of the policemen killed in the attacks.

    “It is unfortunate, the people are dying and the Inspector-General of Police is playing politics with the issue. The man should resign because he has failed woefully. He doesn’t have the capacity.

    “There are many good police officers who can take over that job and perform creditably by turning around the security architecture of this country, making things work and protecting lives and property. That man has no business being the IGP,” Ortom lamented.

    Meanwhile, the governor has lifted the curfew imposed on Gboko town.

    Ortom had last Wednesday imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the town following the killing of seven travellers.

    Ortom announced the lifting of the curfew at a meeting he held with the leaders of the Benue Motorcycle Association and heads of security agencies at the Benue Peoples House, Makurdi.

    He condemned the killing of the travellers and maintained that the victims were not Fulani people as reported

     

  • Herdsmen killings: Buhari surrounded by bad advisers- Ortom

    Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, yesterday expressed pity for President Muhammadu Buhari while stressing that he is surrounded by a wrong set of people that could not give him useful advice that would see the nation out of the trouble of herdsmen killings .

    Ortom stated this while reacting to statement made by Minister of Defence, Mansur Muhammad Dan-Ali, who linked recent massacre of innocent people by suspected Fulani herdsmen in the state to the promulgation of the anti-open grazing laws and blockade of grazing routes.

    The governor also maintained that the comment was a clear indication that the solution to the security crises confronting the country in not in sight, stressing that the position of the minister was tantamount to “dancing on the graves of those who were murdered in the state on January 1″.

    He said: “If that minister said that, I think I will just conclude that the people around Buhari, our President, are a wrong set of people who are not capable of giving him quality advice and also proffer solutions to the problems we have here.

    “These are people who are supposed to be supporting Mr. President and for their selfish interests, they are misinforming him, they are misdirecting him to do the wrong thing. Killings are going on in the state and you are talking about law, is there any law prohibiting cattle grazing in Adamawa, Plateau, Kaduna, Enugu, Ebonyi, Delta, Bayelsa, Ondo, Ekiti, Imo, Oyo and other states including Zamfara? Ortom described the statement as unfortunate, and noted that his administration did not commit any crime by enacting the law which he said would bring the perennial crisis between cattle herders and crop farmers to abrupt end.

    The governor stated that people of the state would continue to be law abiding in the face of unprovoked attacks until justice was done. He noted that despite continued attacks on his people by armed Fulani herdsmen which he said are known, security agencies had tagged them as foreign terrorists from Islamic State In West Africa (ISWA), regretting why immunity which is the prerogative of the President, the Vice President as well as governors and their deputies had been extended to cattle and Fulani herdsmen by the present administration.

    He added: “I have thought that immunity in this country belongs to the President, the Vice-President, governors and deputy governors, but by what I heard from the minister, if he said it, it means the federal government has provided immunity for Fulani herdsmen who killed, maimed and raped our women, they have also provided immunity for cattle in Nigeria which is very wrong.”

    Ortom who asked the minister to apologise to the government and people of the state for the statement which he said was an insult to the state, described the security challenge in Benue as an ugly monster that is capable of consuming the entire country if nothing is done to tackle it headlong. He advised the Federal Government to rise up to the challenge confronting states since it is its responsibility to provide security for the lives and property of the citizenry.

  • Killings: Benue leaders threaten to cut alliance with North

    Apparently frustrated by the incessant killings and attacks on Benue communities, leaders of the state have mandated the state government to cut socio-political alignment with the North, if the killings continued.

    Pained that it took northern governors three weeks to visit the state after the killing of 73 people by herdsmen and even up till now President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to visit the state, the leaders said it was time to revive the old Middle-Belt of late Joseph Tarka or seek alignment with the South.

    Various Benue stakeholders, including serving and former elected leaders, elder statesmen and leaders of ethnic nationalities in the state echoed these views at an expanded stakeholders’ meeting held at Government House, Makurdi.

    Unanimously, the stakeholders called for the restructuring of Nigeria to address the numerous challenges facing the country.

    Speaking at the meeting, former Minister of Steel, Wantaregh Paul Unongo, urged Benue families to defend themselves and not allow herdsmen slaughter them like chicken.

    His words: “I am urging you because I know that under the UN chatter, if your government fails to protect you, you can protect yourself; it is no crime. Our people should, therefore organise, themselves around the traditional rulership to defend yourselves.

    “And I also state categorical on our alliance with the North, that if in time of need your own friend is not going to help you, you are under bounds to make new friendship that will be mutually beneficial.”

    The elder statesman insisted that President Buhari should come to the state to condole with the people, noting: “It was for this reason that I refused to be part of the delegation to the President.”

    On the part of the ethnic leaders, Chief Ode Enyi, President-General of Omi ‘Yi Igede, said: “We have given the state government ultimatum to pull out of the Northern Governors’ Forum and the Northern Traditional Rulers Council if the killings in Benue persisted and after issuing that ultimatum the killings are continuing. So, the wishes of the people must be obeyed.”

    On his part, member of the House of Representatives for Gboko Federal constituency, Mr. John Dyegh, urged the people to revive the Middle Belt Forum, the platform through which the likes of legendary late Joseph Tarka propagated the interest of the people of the state and middle belt.

    In his speech, state Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigerian, CAN, Rev. Akpen Leva, expressed the disappointment of the church over the visit of the Northern Governors’ Forum to the state three weeks after the killings.

    He said: “The church is disappointed in that visit because it was more of a mockery. We will continue to demand justice over the unprovoked murder of our children, pregnant women and the elderly.”

    Agada raises the alarm over herdsmen influx into Agatu Former Minister of State for Education, Prof. Jerry Agada, raised the alarm of a large influx of suspected herdsmen into Agatu, disclosing that the Ardo of the area has told the people that they would come into the area irrespective of the provisions of the grazing law.

    Governor Samuel Ortom said: “Because of the crisis, we are now faced with over 80,000 internally displaced persons, IDPs, in camps located at Daudu, Gbajimba, Utsav, Anyiin and Ugba. Let us continue to be firm. Let us continue to be law-abiding and not take the law into our hands or embark on reprisals. What we see happening now is deliberate. They want us to be angry and do their desire but we are not going to do their bidding. “No matter the intimidation, blackmail and name-calling there is no going back on the Benue grazing law because it is for the good of all, herdsmen and farmers alike.”

  • News Hour: Accommodate herdsmen as your countrymen, Buhari tells Benue leaders I TNGtv

  • JUST IN: Ortom, Mark, Akume others meet Buhari, insist ‘No land for cattle colonies in Benue’

    Sequel to the recent killings of some residents by Fulani herdsmen in Benue State, prominent leaders in the state led by Governor Samuel Ortom on Monday met President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Villa to find a long-lasting solution to the lingering crisis.

    Recall that the Federal Government through the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh had earlier proposed establishing cattle colonies as part of solutions to the incessant clashes between herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria.

    However, the leaders made it clear during the meeting that there is no land for the establishment of cattle colonies in the state.

    Addressing State House correspondents after the meeting, Governor Ortom said the Minister of Agriculture, “who is a son of the soil has explained that cattle colonies are a combination of several ranches” and is proposing that ten thousand hectares should be provided for that purpose.

    “In Benue, we don’t have ten hectares for colonies, other states may have, but we don’t have in Benue State,” he said.

    Among those in the delegation are former Senate President, David Mark; former governor, George Akume and several others.

    Details later…

  • Benue killing: Ortom should be held responsible – Middle Belt group

    The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, has issued a stern warning to all officers and soldiers in the Nigerian Army to steer clear of politics.

    Buratai, represented by the Commander, Infantry Corps, Maj.-Gen. Lamidi Adeosun, gave the warning on Saturday at the graduation ceremony of officers who underwent a Regimentation and Leadership training of the 64 RC and SSC 44 course at the 20 Infantry Battalion Serti, Taraba.

    “Leave politics to the politicians and concentrate on your chosen career” he noted.

    He charged the graduating officers to use the knowledge and experience acquired during their training to help in tackling the current security challenges in the country.

    The COAS said the relevance of the just concluded course in their career as commissioned officers cannot be overemphasised.

    Buratai said ” it is pertinent to state that the recent gains of the Nigeria Army in the North-East and other internal security operations all over the country is expected to present the challenges of a growing rank of criminal elements and criminal activities”.

    “Such challenges were characterised by kidnapping, assassination, sabotage, armed robbery and other act of terrorism, he noted while urging them to lead by example.

    “I therefore urged you to keep alive the knowledge acquired so that you will give a good account of yourselves by adding value to the Nigeria Army in your respective capacities”.

    Earlier, the Commanding Officer of the 20 Battalion Lt.- Col. Anwar Abdullahi, said that the 206 graduating students who had earlier finished from the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA) were assembled in Oct 2017.

    He said the objectives of the course was to enhance the proficiency of the officers on weapon handling, marksmanship and shooting skills .

    Others include regimentation, customs, ethics and tradition of Nigeria Army and Junior Leadership training among others.

  • Benue massacre: Ortom begs protesting residents to avoid another loss of lives, properties

    Governor Samuel Ortom on Saturday appealed to protesters in some parts of Makurdi, the state capital, to remain calm and directed security operatives to restore order.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Makurdi residents took to the streets in peacefully protest, over the killings in Guma and Logo local Government councils.

    Gov. Ortom, made the call in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and ICT, Mr Tahav Agerzua in Makurdi.

    The governor strongly condemned the protests in some parts of the state capital and directed all security operatives especially, the Commissioner of Police Mr Bashir Makama, to ensure restoration of order in the affected areas.

    “The governor appeals to residents to remain calm and report any breach of peace to security agencies for necessary action.

    “The state has suffered too much losses in terms of human lives and property and cannot afford another round of crisis.

    “The Police should arrest those who cause trouble whoever they are, investigate the causes of the protests, and prosecute those responsible for breach of the peace,” Ortom directed.

    He assured Benue people that efforts would be intensified with the collaboration of the relevant security agencies to restore peace and order to all parts of the state.

     

    NAN