Benue state: Soldiers deployed to stem Herdsmen-Farmers crisis

Friday, March 11, 2016 7:47 pm

Soldiers going to Benue over herdsmen crisis

The Federal Government has approved the deployment of soldiers to Benue state to end the lingering clashes between farmers and herdsmen in the state.

Gov. Samuel Ortom disclosed this on Friday in Makurdi while administering Oath of Office on the President, Customary Court of Appeal (CCA), Justice Cosmos Idye and a High Court judge, Justice Augustine Ityonyiman.

He said the invasion of some communities by Fulani herdsmen in the state was becoming worrisome adding that “more Local Government Areas are being attacked on daily basis’’.

“As we speak, the Fulanis have started moving out of Agatu to other parts of the state.

“What we are witnessing today in Benue is more than what happened in the North-East,’’ he said.

He said that Agatu, Logo, Tarka, Buruku, and Kwande were all under attack by the Fulani mercenaries.

Ortom charged the judiciary nationwide to support government anti-corruption crusade through effective and timely dispensation of justice.

In a remark, the CCA President pledged to uphold the Constitution and judicial ethics in the discharge of his duties.

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One Comment

umolu says:

March 12, 2016 at 7:13 pm

The state of lawlessness in the middle belt at the moment is more than the Fulani herdsmen. Something similar to taking young women to Europe under the guise of going to work legally but turning them into prostitutes is what is happening around the herdsmen insurgency. Sources have indicated that Malians,Chadians and people from Niger Republic are being recruited from their home countries and shipped to Nigeria with the promise of finding jobs for them. Once they are in, they are given arms with little training and set loose against the minorities of the middle belt to kill. Just like in the case of prostitution, even if the foreigners brought in don’t want the so called job they are given, they are threatened with death. So they either fight and kill people as directed by their ’employers ‘or they face death. This is how much I have gathered from certain sources since I am not physically on ground but far away in the US.Certain circumstances demand special and specific approaches in going down to the bottom. Like the Agatu community invasion. If is true that helicopters were used for the supply of arms and ammunition to the so called herdsmen, then those helicopters are the fingerprints of those behind the massacre in the community in question. At least the ‘copters have registration numbers which could be used to trace the owners etc. Expect we are living in a make believe country, it should not be rocket science to fish out who and who are behind this criminal activity. All over the middle belt especially areas that are predominantly Christians like Angas,Rukuba, Tarok,Angwei, Jukun, Tiv, Idoma and other minority tribes this is their lot at the moment. There appears to be a deliberate attempt by the government to commit genocide against these minority tribes. It is my guess we have seen the end of it.Middle belt should be on the alert as more ugly things could be coming their way. A case for self determination may need to be made. A stitch in time saves nine.