Gov Ortom Reacts As Fulani Group Claims Responsibility For Attack On Convoy

Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has reacted after a Fulani group reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack on his convoy on Saturday.

The group identified as the Fulani Nationality Movement (FUNAM) had said its “unequivocal” aim was to kill Governor Ortom during the attack.

“Yes. Yes, we did. The Fulani Nationality Movement, (FUNAM) carried out the attack. We have genuine reasons. We acted on behalf of Millions of Fulani people in 15 countries,” the group said in a statement signed by one Umar Amir Shehu.

FUNAM said although Ortom escaped the planned assassination, “he will not be lucky” next time as “That mission will one day be fulfilled and very soon too.”

The group said its motive for attacking the Benue governor was, “a case of vengeance against an infidel who has used his time and money, deployed in destroying the Fulani values and inheritance.”

But reacting, Governor Ortom’s Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, wondered why relevant security agencies were yet to apprehend members of the group.

“A group has come out to claim responsibility of the attack on the governor of Benue state, and up till this minute, more than 24 hours after, no one is asking questions,” Akase said during an appearance on Arise TV on Monday morning.

“This isn’t the first time that this group has spoken out; remember the January, 2018 attacks on Benue state which claimed 73 lives; this same group came out less than one month after and said the attacks on Benue were justified. And that until Benue falls they will not stop attacking the state.

“Again, this group has come out again to say they want to kill the governor. And our security agencies with all the intelligence at their disposal, we expect that the man who signed that statement exist in this country. We expect that that man should be in detention somewhere. He and his group should be asked questions. If governor Ortom is not safe, then who is safe, we are absolutely disappointed,” he said.

The governor’s aide also denied claims that the state government was profiling the Fulani as criminals.

“Why are the forest not being combed by our security agencies. When we say this, we are not profiling the Fulani as a race, we are concerned about the armed ones. Those who live in the forest with AK47.

‘’It is quite unfortunate that a man who is the chief security officer of the state, the number one person in Benue state would be attacked in this manner, what happens to the rest of the citizenry in Benue state, who do not have security around them,’’ he said.

Recall that Ortoms’s convoy reportedly came under gunfire on March 20 around Tyo-mu, along Makurdi-Gboko Highway, while the governor was returning from his farm.

The governor had accused the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) of sponsoring the attack.

Narrating his experience, Ortom had said: “You know today is Saturday and is normal as a farmer, I usually go to my farm, so I went to my farm along Gboko road. And on our way back, we started hearing some gunshots and we discovered people who were dressed in black, and from experience, we now discovered that these are Fulani militias and I do not want to take things for granted because few days ago, the media were awash with statement from MACBAN who met in Yola, the same place they met in 2016 where they decided that they will take Nigeria and that every other person is a slave; that was when they started infiltrating the entire country.

“They came out to target me and behind the scene they are planning to eliminate me on my own land. If I can’t go to the farm as governor, with the entire security around me, then who else can go to farm? You can imagine the pains that we have here in Benue State.

“I appreciate the security personnel attached to me; they were able to repel them and they could not have access to me,” he stated.