It appears Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State is standing alone in his current ordeal and moment of grief as he buried over 70 natives who were victims of the recent herdsmen attack on his state. This comes as governors of adjoining states of Plateau and Nasarawa have either chided Ortom for his statement that the killers came from a neighbouring state or voted against the enactment of ant—grazing law, a statute that was suspected to have triggered the fresh attack.
Gov. Tanko Al-Makura and other stakeholders in Nasarawa State have denied the allegation by Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue that Nasarawa State is habouring killer herdsmen in Tunga, Awe local Government Area.
On his part, Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau says his administration will not enact the controversial anti-grazing law in the state, as grazing areas for cattle ranching have yet to be developed.
The governor said this on Thursday when he fielded questions from State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Lalong said that he had earlier advised the governors of Taraba and Benue against implementing the anti-grazing law in their respective states, even though ranching remained the only way to guarantee peaceful farmers-herdsmen coexistence in the country.
“When the governor of Benue was doing the law, I told him: `Just be careful, take other steps before you start implementation’.
“But he said that states are different, that his own concept is different and for us in Plateau, it is different. I said I will not do the law before the implementation of certain things.
“I have not seen rangers; I have not yet developed the ranching areas. So, I cannot go and say I put up a law to stop who? If I stop people (herdsmen), what is the alternative?’’ he asked.
On the concept of cattle colonies, being advocated by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lalong said that he had been convinced of the usefulness of the concept by the ministry.
He said that the state government had already earmarked two large areas as sites for the grazing of domestic animals in the state.
He, therefore, expressed the hope that the creation of cattle colonies would check the persistent farmers-herdsmen conflicts across the country.
Meanwhile, Al-Makura of Nasarawa while making a presentation at a stakeholders’ meeting convened by the Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris in. Lafia on Thursday, described the allegation that he was harbouring killer herdsmen as “grievous, unacceptable and terribly speculative”.
He said the Benue governor’s accusation that Nasarawa State had camped killer herdsmen to attack his state was a stigma and an aspersion on the state,
“This is an unfair comment to make of Nasarawa State, especially that we enjoy very cordial relationship and can always be reached with any evidence in that regard.
“In any case, the onus of proof lies with the accuser and I would appeal to my colleague to avail security operatives with the details of where he thinks the killer herdsmen are being camped.
“I can assure you as the chief security officer of the state that we would give the police all the necessary support to comb every part of the state to ascertain whether there is any such thing,” Al-Makura added.
He said he had never received any security reports from the state either from security officer or his administrative detail of the existence of such killer herdsmen camping in Nasarawa State.
Al-Makura pointed out that in Awe, where the killer herdsmen were allegedly being camped, had become a sanctuary for displaced persons, mostly of Tiv extraction, from both states.
Similarly, the Emir of Tunga, Alhaji Bala Galadima, expressed worry over the allegation,
He said there was no such camp in Tunga as the people in the area had a security apparatus in place to detect strangers among them.
Galadima said many Tiv people were fleeing their homes in panic because of the attacks in Benue and noted that farmers and herdsmen in the area had lived peacefully over the years.
The Emir of Lafia, Alhaji Mustapha Agwai I, described the statement credited to Ortom as hate speech and urged the stakeholders to condemn it.
He urged leaders to desist from making unguarded statements capable of breaching the peace.
The Emir of Azara, Dr Ibrahim Musa, said there was no crisis in Nasarawa State but panic attack orchestrated by poor implementation of the anti-open grazing law in Benue.
He called on the Federal Government to investigate the implementation of the law to ascertain the provision of ranches and other facilities as spelt out by the law in Benue.
However, some stakeholders of Tiv extraction said some of their kinsmen were killed in the attacks.
The Nasarawa State Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Gabriel Aka’aka, expressed worry over the alleged attack on Tiv people in Nasarawa State when they had nothing to do with the anti-open grazing law in Benue.
He stressed the need for security reinforcement along the border communities to apprehend the “mysterious killers” in the areas.
