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Gov Ortom alleges another round of attacks by herdsmen in Benue, fingers Miyetti Allah

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Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has called for the arrest and prosecution of the National President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore (MAKH), Abdullahi Bodejo, for persistently making statements capable of stirring crises in the country.

This was in reaction to comments made during the recent media outing of MAKH president which Ortom said was inciting and direct invitation to anarchy.

Bodejo had during an interview said, “You are a governor and you want to enjoy peace in your state, you don’t need any long meeting, just create a particular area for the Fulani and equip them with modern amenities.

“We are also insisting that Ortom should apologise to our organisation. He is looking for every avenue to justify his anti-grazing law. He should apologise to Fulani in Nigeria for killing them, for destroying their businesses and damaging our names.”

“It is Ortom that should apologise for killing Fulani. The only thing we are fighting is the anti-open grazing law, we are in court and we will continue to pursue it in the court till we have victory. We are in court because we can’t allow that law to work.”

Governor Ortom in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase over the weekend, said Miyetti Allah had confirmed that it was not only responsible for attacks on farming communities in parts of the country but was also determined to reject any method of animal husbandry that does not agree with nomadic cattle breeding. He alleged that they were poised to sponsor violence in states not willing to donate land for open grazing.

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The statement read in part:

“Utterances such as those of Bodejo are inciting and direct invitation for anarchy. No group should be above the law to be dictating to states on how to accord preference to it at the expense of other Nigerians.

“Bodejo in the same media reports had singled out Governor Ortom for vilification, saying the Governor has been playing politics with the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law to win sympathy and gain advantage.

“This is the same manner the group threatened in May 2017, a few days after Governor Ortom signed the ranching law that they would mobilise their members across West Africa to invade Benue and resist implementation of the legislation.

“They carried out their threat on the eve of 2018 new year when their armed militia murdered 73 innocent persons, destroyed property worth millions of naira and displaced over 500,000 people in Guma and Logo local government areas.

“As a state, Benue will not take the current threat by Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore lightly. The law of the land is sacrosanct and must be obeyed by everyone. Any individual or group who wants to breed animals in the state should be prepared to ranch them.

“On the “order” given to states by Bodejo to carve out land for grazing reserves/Ruga settlements, we advise the group to exclude Benue from their list as there is no land for open grazing in the state.

“Nigerians irrespective of place of origin and ethnicity who wish to do lawful business in Benue State are encouraged to do so as the Ortom administration is willing to collaborate with investors in different sectors of the economy.”

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