Posted by Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has sounded the alarm, stating that certain Fulani elite are plotting to assassinate him.
The governor, who made the comment while speaking to reporters in Makurdi on Thursday, emphasized that he will not be scared into giving up his fight against the invasion of the state by Fulani terrorists from other areas of Africa.
Ortom further stated that he will not back down from preserving their interests until he leaves office.
According to the DAILY POST, the governor was targeted for elimination when a group of Fulani elite led by the dethroned Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, made allegations against him.
In his reaction, Ortom opined that his attention was drawn to a “write-up signed by 52 personalities of Fulani extraction led by the deposed Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi in form of a letter to Mr President in which the group leveled all manner of accusations against me in a desperate attempt to set me up for hatred, vilification and attacks.
“The organization, which declined to provide its name, accused me of being responsible for the recent bombing that killed some pastoralists in Akwanaja, Doma Local Government Area, Nasarawa State. They attempted to link the killings to the Benue State Livestock Guards, stating that the pastoralists were bombed on their journey from Benue to Nasarawa after retrieving their cattle.
“The gang falsely accused me of committing genocide against pastoralists. The deposed Emir Sanusi did not stop there. He prepared a Hausa film in which he disparaged me and urged all Fulanis to regard me as their adversary, while also asking those in Benue State to vote against me in the next elections.”
“I view these charges and blackmail targeted at my person and the Government of Benue State as part of a major plot by enemies of the state to eliminate me. I’ve avoided seven assassination attempts since we passed the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law in 2017.”
“Recent remarks by various figures, such as Lamido Sanusi, have revealed the genuine identities of those behind the diabolical plot to eliminate me. But my life is in God’s hands, and only He can allow anything bad to happen to me,” he said.
He emphasised that “Let me tell the dethroned Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi and his conspirators that I cannot be intimidated by any of them. I hold the mandate of Benue people and my allegiance is to my people in respect of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which gives states as federating units, the power to enact laws for the good governance of their people.”
He spoke further, “I must state categorically that the Benue State Government under my leadership has no hand in the Akwanaja incident. Linking myself to the Doma bombing in Nasarawa State is the most unjust thing anyone could do to me.
“How am I connected to or responsible for what did not occur in my state? Akwanaja is in Doma local government area of Nasarawa State, so how do I account for what did not take place in my state? Only in Benue State am I the Chief Security Officer.
“Fulani herdsmen attacks on my people in the last couple of years have caused a devastating humanitarian crisis resulting in the killing of over 6,000 Benue people and the displacement of about two million others with many living in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. Our people have suffered the organized genocide masked in terrorism, not because they do not know their attackers.
“Benue people know those who are visiting them with unprovoked violence and killings, but as law-abiding citizens of Nigeria, we have chosen to sustain our belief in the conventional security agencies of this country. Now, the enemy has turned round to accuse our people of being the aggressors,” he stressed.
“It is public knowledge that right from the day the law came into effect, umbrella bodies of nomadic herders boldly came out with impunity and said they would never obey the law.
“They vowed to mobilize Fulanis across the West African sub-region to invade Benue State and stop implementation of the law. They actualized their threats on the eve of the 2018 New Year when they carried out simultaneous attacks on Guma and Logo local government areas killing 73 people whom we painfully gave a mass burial in Makurdi on January 11, 2018.”