The Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, has raised the alarm over an alleged plot by Fulani herdsmen to assassinate him on the Makurdi-Lafia highway.
Ortom made this known in Makurdi on Friday at an interactive session organised by the Makurdi Catholic Diocese for peace building between the church, traditional rulers and other stakeholders.
Addressing the gathering in his native Tiv language, Ortom hinged his revelation on an intelligence report that Fulani herdsmen currently occupying Guma LGA were plotting to attack his convoy on the Makurdi-Lafia Road.
He further disclosed that the plan involved killing his security aides, and then kidnapping, torturing before killing him.
Ortom said that the appropriate security agencies had been briefed on the matter.
“Therefore anytime I sleep and wake up and my spirit doesn’t allow me to travel by road, I would call flight operators, but just a few days ago, the federal government has issued a circular that no flight should land in Makurdi airport again.”
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He said that the circular bore the mark of the handiwork of some Benue indigenes colluding with some people in Abuja to kill him.
Therefore, he advised the Federal Government to promptly address the issue of killings or it would negatively affect the conduct of the 2019 general elections.
Ortom lamented that most of the polling units had been taken over by herdsmen that have converted them to grazing land for cattle.
“The killings across Nigeria is a deliberate attempt by some people, either Boko Haram, armed bandits or herdsmen, working for the same purpose to disenfranchise a large proportion of Nigerians from voting for the leaders of their choice.
“Amnesty International had come out to disclose that over 19,000 people have lost their lives in Benue, Taraba, Kaduna, Nasarawa and Plateau states to herdsmen attacks and this does not speak well of the Nigerian nation especially as we are heading towards 2019,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN), the umbrella body of herdsmen in Nigeria, has described Ortom’s allegation as baseless.
National Coordinator of MACBAN, Alhaji Garus Gololo accused Ortom of trying to soil the image of the organisation.
He maintained that Miyetti Allah is not a criminal organisation and could therefore not be plotting the assassination of anyone.
Gololo said, “It is not true. We don’t have problem with anybody in Nigeria or Benue State. What business does Miyetti Allah have with kidnapping? We are not kidnappers or a criminal organisation. We are a peaceful organisation.
“We don’t have anything against anybody in Nigeria. Whoever gave Governor Ortom such false information should stop dragging the name of Miyetti Allah in the mud.”