Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom has urged President Muhammadu
Buhari to upgrade the ongoing military exercise in the state tagged
“Ayem Akpatema”, to a wider operation to effectively curb herdsmen
attacks.
He said this on Monday when Buhari met with farmers, herdsmen,
government officials and other stakeholders in Makurdi, the state
capital.
“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.