Killings: Your Response to Criticism Shows Bias, Ortom Chides Presidency
- Governor Ortom is not happy with the presidency following a recent statement where it criticised him
- Presidential aide, Garba Shehu, had said President Buhari was disappointed that Ortom would blame him for the wanton killings in Benue
- In his response, the Benue leader said his call on the president to tackle continuous killings across Nigeria was borne out of his patriotism
- According to Ortom, many other concerned Nigerians are also worried about the worsening security situation
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The governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom is not backing down on his claims that the presidency's inaction has given more confidence to the Fulani militias to keep wreaking havoc and killing innocent Nigerians.
In a statement by his chief press secretary, Terver Akase Governor, Ortom said the presidency's expectation that he would keep quiet while killer herdsmen continued to attack his people showed its tacit support of the criminals, The Nation reports.
Source: Twitter
This was in response to a statement issued by a presidential aide, Garba Shehu, on Thursday, April 29, where he said it was disappointing that the governor was blaming President Muhammadu Buhari for the terrible acts of violence and killings in Benue.
The statement partly read:
“It is shocking that Shehu would make a statement regarding an attack evidently carried out by Fulani herdsmen and there won’t be a single sentence of reproach directed at the violent Fulani herders. Such a deliberate omission smacks of complicity and tacit support for the killer herders.”
I have nothing against Buhari
The Punch reports that Ortom said he had no personal grudge against the Nigerian ruler but was only being a patriotic citizen interested in justice, equity, fairness and above all the rule of law.
He said his call on the president was for him to act in an unbiased manner to end the reign of killer herdsmen across the country.
The governor believes there is no crime in calling on the Nigerian leader to take certain actions following the killings taking place in Benue and other Nigerian states.
The Benue leader noted that he was not the only one worried by the worsening security situation in the country as other Nigerians have at different times also expressed their concerns.
He said Shehu was aware of his efforts at curbing insecurity as he has written letters to the federal government but has been repeatedly ignored.
Ortom claimed that following the federal government's body language, Nigerians have been forced to draw their own conclusions that FG is complicit and its inaction has given more courage to the armed herdsmen to continue unleashing terror across the country.
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Gunmen shoot nine dead
As the exchange between Ortom and the presidency continues, the insecurity keeps getting worse. About nine people lost their lives in another senseless killing in Benue state.
Villagers said the gunmen besieged their communities in the dead of the night, fired gunshots sporadically and hacked some people to death with cutlasses.
Many people reportedly sustained gun wounds in the communities during the attacks.
Source: Legit.ng
