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Ortom accuses Nigerian govt of protecting herdsmen after latest attack on Benue IDPs

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Samuel Ortom

The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Sunday accused the Federal Government of complicity in the herdsmen’s attacks in the state.

The governor was reacting to last week’s attack on the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in the Abagana area of the state.

A group of herdsmen attacked the camp and killed some people on Friday.

Many of the injured victims of the attack are currently receiving treatment at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH) in Makurdi.

The victims include an elderly woman, Esther Num, who had a gunshot wound to her waist, a 14-year-old Emberga Ukpoor whose hand was severed, and Terna Ikyaan who was injured in the belly.

Others are 14-year-old Kwaghve Terkimbi, whose ear was severed as well as Agber Ikyume, Regina Gbashaor, and Eunice Iyua, who suffered varying degrees of wounds.

Ortom, who visited the camp on Sunday, said he was distressed by the senseless killings in the state since 2015.

READ ALSO: Ortom goes tough, tasks community guards to go all out against ‘killer herdsmen’ in Benue

The governor has been unrelenting in his criticism of the current administration over its handling of the herdsmen menace and other security challenges in the country.

He said: “This has been my pain, since 2015, I have cried out loud, insisting that the Federal Government is complicit on the issues of terrorism, raising Fulanis in Niger from Futa Jalon (Senegal), Cameroon, Mauritania and Libya, and other parts of the world, to come to Nigeria and take it and make it their country.

“My greatest pain is that these people have not hidden their intentions and they are known. The Federal Government is protecting them.

“I have called for the arrest of the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore several times. I have written to the Presidency. I have written to DSS, I have written to the police, yet they are adamant. It is not that these people are not known, they are known.”

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