The immediate past governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, has said that his administration was denied all the necessary interventions because of his stance against enemies taking over the state.
Ortom, who was the Benue State governor between 2015& 2023, was vocal and critical of the armed herders’ invasion of the state and subsequently enacted an anti-open grazing law.
The former governor also hinted that he put his political career on hold to ensure that enemies of the state did not succeed in occupying Benue Valley.
Ortom stated these in a statement entitled ‘Those unfortunate statements on insecurity in Benue’, issued by his media aide, Terver Akase, and made available to newsmen in Makurdi while responding to his successor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, who accused him of being complicit in the insecurity in the state.
In an interview, Governor Alia said, “There is no need for you to go and cry wolf down there when people come and you slaughter them, and you go crying to the Federal Government to give you money so that you will come back and take care of business.
Then there is no need to incite the young people, steal cows, rustle the cows, and then come to be settled. There would be a reprisal and when the reprisal comes, lives would be lost.
“So one bad man was in some quarters orchestrating these and was cashing in when people were being buried every day.
‘Those unfortunate statements on insecurity in Benue’, described it as ‘unfortunate and unfounded’ allegations targeted at him
The former governor beat his chest to be the first governor in the country to enact an anti-open grazing law to tackle the menace of herdsmen and added that at no time during his tenure did youths in the state engage in the rustling of cows or kill their own people.
According to the statement, “We find the above statements not only unfortunate but disturbing. Raising such weighty allegations without providing any proof to support the claims sends a rather wrong signal to the rest of the country. Benue people are known as very hospitable and peace-loving citizens of Nigeria.
“It is an incontestable fact that His Excellency Ortom was the first Benue Governor who boldly confronted the monster known as armed herdsmen attacks on Benue people, which predated his administration.
“He (Ortom) was the first governor to enact a law not only to end open grazing of livestock in all parts of the state but to also introduce ranching as the global best practice of animal husbandry.
“In his eight years as Governor, Chief Ortom never accused Benue youths of being cattle rustlers and killers of their own people.
“Instead, he encouraged youths of the state to aspire to achieve their dreams, and his administration engaged young people who were willing to complement conventional security agencies as members of the state Community Volunteer Guards.
“The Livestock Guards, whom his administration had earlier established as the enforcement agency of the law on open grazing, were also made up of hard-working and patriotic Benue youths who, for six years, did a commendable job.
The former governor further said, “It is equally imperative to state that Governor Ortom never requested funds from the Federal Government or anyone else regarding the security situation in his state.
“Instead, he made huge sacrifices and put his political career on the line to ensure that enemies of the state did not succeed in taking over the land that they have always wanted to occupy.
“In the process, he was vilified and victimised, and the state government was denied several entitlements, including funds from bonds, stamp duty, SURE-P, and signature bonuses, among other funds from which the state legitimately deserved to benefit.
While stating that all the financial interventions denied him during his tenure had been released to the present administration, the former governor asked his successor to give an account of how they had expended the funds.
“Their explanation should include what has been done with Benue’s share of the N50 billion that President Bola Tinubu graciously released to five northern states affected by insecurity,” the statement read in part.
ALSO READ THESE TOP STORIES FROM TheWitness
herders’
