Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Wednesday, reiterated his call to the people of the state to stop crying over herdsmen invasion and instead take up arms to confront the invaders.
The governor also fumed over the situation where killer herders take shelter in a neighbouring state, which they use as a launch pad to attack Benue indigenes and residents.
Ortom stated this in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Nathaniel Ikyur, while reacting to the killing of his kinsmen by suspected herders at Tse Ahentse in the Guma Local Government Area of the state on Tuesday.
The Chairman of the local government council, Caleb Aba, had confirmed the killing of five persons at Tse Ahentse allegedly by Fulani herdsmen, while the state police command spokesperson, Catherine Anene, claimed that four persons were killed.
Ortom, who hails from the local government area, called on the Federal Government to cooperate with his administration and step up military operations that would flush out armed herdsmen from states bordering Benue.
The governor said this would help end the invasion of Benue communities by killer herdsmen, who have continued to use the porous nature of the state’s borders to invade hapless communities in Benue State.
He stated, “It is time to end this unnecessary shedding of innocent blood. We can do it if we cooperate with each other.
“The situation where killer herdsmen take shelter with our neighbours, sneak in and kill our people without provocation will not be tolerated any longer.”
He called on security agencies to continue to cooperate with the people of the state to end what he described as bloodletting.
“Let us dislodge these invaders from wherever they may be hiding for peace to return to our communities,” Ortom added.
While commending the security agencies for their steadfastness and commitment to ending the crises, Ortom called on Benue people to begin to arm themselves with “lawful weapons as prescribed by law and defend themselves against the Fulani invaders.”
“It is no longer fashionable to continue to cry out for help. We must now be at alert and ready to confront these killers. This is another way we can assist the security agencies in combating this menace since it has obviously overstretched beyond limits,” the governor said.
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