Ortom Replies Wike, Rivers Situation Worse Than Benue

Ortom was reacting to a statement credited to Wike, where the later criticized the governor over the recent killings in some parts of Benue State, before calling for the declaration of a state of emergency in the state.

“Governor Samuel Ortom, has shown ineptitude and lack of capacity to handle the situation, you can’t have a governor watching helplessly as his people are being killed. What kind of governor is that, he has displayed sheer laziness and incapacity in the whole issue, and this is quite unfortunate,” Wike said.

Ortom, while reacting, stated that there have been more killings in Rivers than Benue, adding that the people of Rivers are known to be lawless.

Ortom said: “It is unfortunate because if you talk about declaring of a state of emergency as a result of killings, I am aware that there are more killings in Rivers than Benue.

“Here we know the root, in Rivers there is no root. They do things as if there is no leadership. They take laws into their hands; we don’t do that here. And I will not subscribe to taking laws into my hands or anybody doing so in Benue State.

“One thing I am sure of is that we are on top of the situation we found ourselves in. On the issue of herdsmen attacks and criminality, we have got them under control. I inherited a state that was ravaged by criminality, killings, terror, assassination and kidnapping.

“When was the last time you heard that somebody was kidnapped in Benue State? When did you hear last that robbery took place in Benue State?

“If we talk about rivalry between farmers and herdsmen, it is not peculiar to Benue. We have sent a bill to the state House of Assembly. We are proposing ranching as an option.”