Gov. Ortom: “Fulani elite wants to get rid of me”

Samuel Ortom, the governor of Benue State, has expressed concern over purported plans by some of the Fulani elite to assassinate him.

The governor insisted, though, that he would not allow himself to be coerced into giving up the struggle against the invasion of the state by Fulani terrorists from other regions of Africa.

Ortom reiterated that his commitment belongs to the Benue State residents who elected him, according to a statement issued by his chief press secretary, Nathaniel Ikyur, on February 2, 2023, at the Benue Peoples House in Makurdi.

He promised to stand his ground in defending their interests until the day he left office.

The governor responded to claims that he was being hunted down and killed made against him by a group of Fulani elite led by the deposed Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi.

According to him, “My attention was drawn to a write-up signed by 52 individuals of Fulani descent led by the deposed Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, in the form of a letter to Mr. President, in which the group levelled all manner of accusations against me in a desperate attempt to set me up for hatred, vilification, and attacks.”

“The gang, which would not provide its name, accused me of being behind the recent bombing that resulted in the deaths of some pastoralists in Akwanaja, Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. They attempted to associate the deaths with the Benue State Livestock Guards by asserting that the pastoralists were bombed as they travelled from Benue to Nasarawa after retrieving their cattle.

“The gang falsely claimed that I had killed pastoralists in genocide.” After being removed from power, Emir Sanusi continued. He prepared a Hausa film in which he attacked me, urged Benue State residents to vote against me in the next elections, and called on all Fulanis to view me as their enemy.

According to Governor Ortom, these accusations and acts of blackmail against me and the Benue State government are part of a larger plot by the state’s opponents to have me removed from office. I have evaded seven assassination attempts since we passed the open grazing prohibition and ranch establishment law in 2017.

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“The recent statements of some individuals, such as Lamido Sanusi, have revealed the genuine identities of those behind the evil goal to remove me,” the governor claimed. “But God is in control of my life, and only He has the power to allow anything bad to happen to me,” he said.

“Let me tell the deposed Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, and his conspirators that I cannot be frightened by any of them,” the speaker emphasized. In accordance with the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Constitution, which grants states as federating units the right to create laws for the proper government of their people, I possess the mandate of the Benue people, and my allegiance is to my people.

“I must absolutely clarify that the Benue State Government, which I head, had no involvement in the Akwanaja tragedy,” he said. The worst thing anyone could do to me is to associate me with the bombing in Doma, Nasarawa State.

“How am I connected to or accountable for what happened outside of my state?” How can I explain what didn’t happen in my state given that Akwanaja is located within the Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State? “Only in Benue State am I the chief security officer,” said Governor Ortom.

The Governor said, “Fulani herdsmen attacks on my people in the previous two years have generated a horrific humanitarian catastrophe resulting in the deaths of over 6,000 Benue people and the relocation of approximately two million others, many of whom are living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. not because they do not recognise their attackers, but rather because they are the victims of a systematic genocide disguised as terrorism.

“The people of Benue are aware of those who are targeting them with random acts of violence and murder, but as law-abiding Nigerians, we have opted to maintain our faith in the traditional security institutions in this nation.” “The enemy has now claimed that our people are the aggressors,” he emphasised.

The Governor stated that “it is public information that umbrella organisations of nomadic herders openly came out with impunity and said they would never obey the legislation right from the day the law came into effect.”

“They pledged to organise Fulanis from all over the sub-region of West Africa to invade Benue State and halt the enforcement of the law.” On the eve of the 2018 New Year, they carried out simultaneous attacks on the Guma and Logo local government areas, killing 73 people, for whom we regretfully conducted a mass funeral in Makurdi on January 11, 2018. They thus made good on their threats.