New Telegraph

Herdsmen killed 1,541 Benue farmers –Ortom

At least, 1,541 farmers were killed in 46 attacks by armed Fulani herdsmen in Benue State. Governor Samuel Ortom, who disclosed this at the weekend, said the killings occurred between February 2013 and May 13, 2017 when the state validly promulgated the Open Grazing and Ranches Establishment Law through the state House of Assembly.

 

Ortom spoke in Makurdi during the third anniversary of the Benue Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law 2017. He said it was because of the unending killings of innocent farmers which prompted his administration to enact the law.

 

The governor posited that the attacks saw massive destruction of property including schools, hospitals, residential houses, churches, farmlands in 15 local government areas out of the 23 local government areas of the state.

 

The governor listed the affected local government areas as Guma, Logo, Ukum, Kwande, Buruku, Gboko, Tarka, Katsina-Ala, Makurdi, Gwer West, Gwer, Ogbadibo, Otukpo, Agatu and Apa. Ortom spoke through the state Attorney- General and Commissioner for Justice, Mike Gusa.

 

The event, attended by both Benue and Fulani leaders, was organised by the state Standing Committee on Monitoring and Implementation of Government Litigations and Matters Thereto headed by Emmanuel Agbakor, Principal Special Assistant (PSA) to the Governor on Legal Matters. Ortom said the value of the property lost during those violent attacks on Benue farmers was over N400 billion.

 

He added: “The excuse given for the attacks included reprisals for cattle rustling and killing of herdsmen during conflicts arising from the grazing of cattle. People in several communities in the affected places were living in perpetual fear, many vacated their ancestral homes for fear of being killed by suspected herdsmen.

 

“To put an end to these incessant attacks which resulted in killings and massive destruction, the Benue State Executive Council sponsored a bill to the state Assembly to enact a law prohibiting open grazing and establishment of ranches for the rearing of livestock in general.”

 

The governor explained that the bill included the establishment of the Benue State Livestock Guards to assist the security agencies to enforce the law, signed on May 22, 2017.

 

He disclosed that he assented to the law but directed that the implementation be delayed for six months to give owners of livestock time to adjust to the new law.

 

Ortom recalled that one week after the signing of the bill into law, on Tuesday, 30th May 2017, the Fulani sociocultural group, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore (MAKH), under the leadership of Alhaji Abdullahi Bodejo, President, and Alhassan Sale (an engineer), Secretary, addressed a press conference in Abuja and vowed to resist the Law.

 

He added: “They (Bodejo and Sale) vowed to mobilise their members nationwide and beyond to resist its implementation.

 

“The group also made spurious claims of being the original inhabitants of the Benue valley, concluding that the planned attacks were a struggle over the resources of the valley.

 

Several other Fulani groups including the Fulani Nationality Movement issued similar threats.”

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