The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Monday raised fresh concerns of possible herdsmen attacks in the state.
The governor dropped this hint when he led the Senior Pastor of Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Paul Enenche, and his wife, Becky, to the cemetery of the 73 victims of the New Year Fulani herdsmen attacks.
The governor hinged his alarm on the influx of over one million cattle into the state despite the launch of a military operation code-named Ayem Akpatuma last Tuesday.
Ortom, who decried the influx of herdsmen into the state, appealed to the military to flush out the invaders so that the over 160,000 displaced persons who had been in eight camps could return to their homes.
Ortom added that more than 60 persons, including three people killed last week in Guma Local Government Area of the state, had been killed since the mass burial of the 73 persons initially killed by herdsmen in the New Year attacks.
He said, “We appreciate President Muhammadu Buhari for the deployment of soldiers in the state to keep the peace, but our concern is the influx of over one million cows into the state despite the presence of the military.”
Leading the prayers, Enenche prayed for peace to be restored to the troubled state and for the souls of the departed to rest in the Lord’s bosom.