'How herdsmen made me homeless,' Benue Governor reveals

dimeji akinloye

May 27, 2016 7:10 PM

He said the incessant attacks by the herdsmen in the state has created a 25 year retrogression of development.

Benue State Governor,

Ortom stated this when he hosted the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors’ Forum led by Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state, who paid him condolence visit over the invasion of Agatu and other parts of Benue by the herdsmen.

He said: “The mercenaries invaded my village, killed over 50 persons and destroying over 200 hectares of my rice farm. As I am sitting here, I have no ancestral home, they killed children, old men and women in my community.

“The mercenaries come to Benue not just to graze but to steal, kill and destroy the livelihood of the agrarian people after which they take possession of the land knowing fully well that all we have here are our farms.

“The truth is that these attacks have brought a major setback to the people especially with our declining revenue from the federal allocation which was about N7 billion before i assumed office but this month stood at N1.3billion while our monthly wage bill stands at close to N4billion."

Ortom said that despite President Muhammadu Buhari's directives that soldiers and mobile police men should be deployed to the state, no single arrest arrest of the perpetrators has been reported.

READ: Police confirm assassination of Ortom's aide

In his response on behalf of the Forum, Okorocha said the documentary shown to the Governors on the invasion of Benue by herdsmen was quite revealing and the killings condemnable.

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