Gov Samuel Ortom
The governor who received Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka at the Government House in Makurdi on Tuesday revealed that he would file a formal complaint to the security agencies.
He vowed to petition the Inspector General of Police, the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Presidency to ensure that the association’s president was arrested for allegedly threatening states like Benue for rejecting the establishment of the Rural Grazing Area (RUGA).
“He should be arrested because there is no hate speech more than the one he was saying and was giving wide publicity that governors who do not embrace cattle colony and RUGA will not know peace,” the governor alleged.
He added, “We have seen it before and why should we allow a person like this to go scot-free in impunity? If we want to live as a country, this should not be allowed … this is the way to go.”
More Problems in Benue?
In the heat of the crisis between herdsmen and farmers that claimed many lives and forced hundreds of residents from their houses in Benue, the state government had taken some measures to address the situation.
One of the major steps taken by the government was the passage and assent to the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law by the Benue State House of Assembly and Governor Ortom respectively in November 2017.
Although the governor noted that the state government was open to ideas and recommendations on how to tackle the crisis between farmers and herders in the state, he insisted that the RUGA scheme was not an option to consider.
He stated, “I have challenged Nigerians, the Federal Government, state, and all Nigerians that if the prohibition of open grazing in Benue State law of 2017; if you have any order policy that can restore peace for farmers and herdsmen in this country or in Benue State, please bring it on the table.”
“We are willing to go back to our people and say there is a better option, but the option cannot be RUGA, cattle colony, and open grazing. It cannot be those ones; they are not there because they will not solve the problem, they will create more problems.”
