Nasarawa Killings: Forum Asks To Leave Ortom Out 

The Middle Belt Forum has demanded that persons accusing Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State of being responsible for the alleged killing of the 37 herdsmen in Rukubi community of Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State should leave him out of it.

This is as the forum claims that the governor does not have any tie to the bombing and as the Nigerian Air Force has taken responsibility for their actions.

A statement on Sunday signed by the National President, Dr Pogu Bitrus noted that since the incident, there have been conflicting reports on what actually transpired. 

"Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa declared on Thursday, January 26, that the herdsmen were killed through what looked like a drone attack.

"The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) said since the military was the only authority to deploy drone attack; the Federal Government should wade into the matter  to bring the culprits to book.

"We are aware that the Nigerian Air Force undertook an operation against terrorist targets in areas bordering Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba in the same period.

"Also, there was no report of cattle casualties mentioned in any of the reports in spite of the claim that the victims are Fulani who just redeemed their cattle from the Benue State Government.

"Amidst the confusion that have trailed these killings, the deposed emir of Kano, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, recently added fuel to the raging inferno when he accused the Benue State Governor, Dr Samuel Ortom, as the architect of the killings. 

"In what was seen as  reprisal attacks, militant herdsmen mounted attacks on Benue communities bordering Nasarawa, shortly after Governor Sule announced the killings without any shred of evidence to prove his claim.

"While the MBF is opposed to any form of extra-judicial killing, we are shocked at the statement by the Kano deposed emir attempting to rope Dr Ortom on an issue that he (Sanusi) is not competent to speak on. 

"On Thursday last week, Governor Ortom informed Nigerians that there were premeditated plots by some highly-placed persons to assassinate him over the recent killings of herdsmen in Nasarawa State.

"He cautioned against inflammatory statements over security matters, stressing that Benue State is not involved in the alleged killings."

Speaking further Bitrus said, since the introduction of the anti-grazing law in Benue, there has been no love lost between Governor Ortom and supporters of murderous herdsmen who have always seen the promulgation of the law as targeted against them. In the wake of the enactment of the law, MACBAN and other Fulani groups vowed to ensure the anti-grazing law remains ineffective.

"More worrisome, there have been sparks of violence among border communities between the two states that often culminated into destruction of lives and property.

"All these orchestrated violence are aimed at weakening the resolve and commitment of the Benue State Government to implement the anti-grazing law described by the herders as obnoxious.

"The Middle Belt Forum calls on the Federal Government to set up an independent probe of the Nasarawa killings with photos and pictures of the slain herders and also their cattle as bombs don't discriminate so as to ascertain the claims by the Nasarawa State governor and others alike.

"We also call on President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the killings of unarmed and defenceless citizens in various states of the Middle Belt Region in the interest of justice and fair play. 

"Governor Ortom’s traducers must desist henceforth from accusing him falsely on a matter he is not involved as he remains the leader of Benue State who is not willing to let down his resolve in standing up for the democratic rights of his people in particular, and Nigerians in general."