Benue Killings: Rights Group Calls For A State Of Emergency

The group in a communique signed by its chairman, Barrister Akor James, at the end of an emergency meeting which was held in Makurdi, the state capital of Benue state, on Tuesday, argued that imposing a state of emergency is the only measure that can put a check to the murders of innocent farmers and people of Benue state.

Also, the group said that the emergency rule is the only measure that can be used to check Governor Samuel Ortom’s style of habouring criminals and fueling crises in the state.

The group maintained that an Emergency Rule is long overdue in Benue state if one has to consider the several lives which had been lost to different kinds of crises in the state since Ortom took over in 2015.

The group referred to several political killings that took place in 2015 in Katsina Ala and some other parts of Benue state on the order of Governor Ortom.

It stated that this is the only thing that the federal government can do to ensure that “the entire Benue state isn’t wiped away by terrorists, herdsmen and the unknown gun men who are directly attacking people on the order of the governor.”

The group argued that Monday’s killings of innocent people at the Zaki-Biam market in Ukum local government area would not have taken place if the federal government had imposed a state of emergency on the state before now.

The group alleged that the governor “is benefiting from all the crises and killings taking place in the state hence he has decided not to do the needful as the chief security officer of the state.

“Here is a case of a governor who fuels crises in the state so that he can hide under that to increase his monthly Security Votes.

“Even after increasing it, Governor Ortom still pockets it so one can say that he enjoys the way his subjects are being killed on daily basis either by Fulani herdsmen or unknown gun men.

“Is canceling his engagements for yesterday what Benue state needs now to get out of its dangerous situation?” The statement reads in parts.

They challenged Ortom to explain if he has been spending the monthly security votes judiciously since he has been collecting them.

The group also urged the governor to mention the numbers of the people that had lost their lives to the continuous killings by alleged Fulani herdsmen and unknown gunmen.

According to the Benue Human Rights Watch, Governor Ortom had refused to fight the Fulani herdsmen at the detriment of Benue farmers and their families because he doesn’t want to join issues with President Muhammadu Buhari, who incidentally happens to be the patron of the Meyyiti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria.