Ortom: Reps Order IGP To Apologise, Ask Police Spokesman To Resign

The House of Representatives has ordered the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to apologise to Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, over his remarks on the Herdsmen crisis in Benue.

At plenary on Wednesday, the lawmakers also asked Jimoh Moshood, spokesman of the Nigeria police force, to resign over his “derogatory” remarks against the Benue governor.

This was sequel to a motion titled ‘The need to address the derogatory remarks by Jimoh Moshood, force PRO, against Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue state, and unseeming unwillingness by the IGP to enforce the anti-open grazing law” raised by Mark Bilah, from Benue state.

Recall that the IGP had last Friday at a senate hearing blamed the anti-Open Grazing law in Benue for the violence between Herders and farmers in the state.

Also, Moshood on Tuesday called Ortom a “drowning man”, when he featured as a guest on Sunrise Daily, a programme on Channels Television.

The lawmakers described Moshood’s comment as unprofessional, saying the police PRO is unqualified to be in the Force.

Speaking earlier, Johnson Oghuma, an APC lawmaker from Edo state, accused the police of being insensitive to the killings in Benue.

According to him, Moshood’s statement showed that the Nigerian Police Force is unwilling to tackle the Herdsmen crisis, which has led to the death of hundreds of innocent Nigerians.

“For him to come out to say the governor is a drowning man, he is actually speaking the mind of the police force,” the lawmaker said.

“He is confirming the role of the police in the killings in Benue. And that is very unfortunate.

“The police must be called to order before it is too late.”