Ajulo backs self-defence bid of Benue indigenes, others

• Ex-minister urges restraint, media to douse tension

Former national secretary of the Labour Party (LP), Kayode Ajulo, says the people of Benue State and other affected regions should take up the task of defending themselves against the marauders.

According to him, self-defence had been successfully employed globally even in some areas in Nigeria.”The renewed so-called Fulani herdsmen’s killings across the country must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.

“Nigerians have had their immutable rights to life disrupted at the whim of killers who place premium on cattle over human life. While the government gets the easy job of playing the sympathetic and concerned authority, ordinary Nigerians whose family and friends have died must undertake the tortuous task of laying their dismembered loved ones to rest.”

Ajulo noted that the apparent absence of penitence and contrition as demonstrated by the authorities of the herdsmen suggest that a more radical and proactive solution must be preferred.He submitted that community leaders should undertake the urgent task of constituting vigilance groups to check future incursions until help comes.

However, the North Central Media Support Group for Buhari has appealed for restraint, saying it is disturbed by the divisive tendencies and political dimensions being attached to the carnage.

Chairman of the group and erstwhile Minister of State for Information, Dasuki Nakande, in a statement yesterday in Jos said: “The media should also stop the use of provocative words so as to reduce the tension.”According to him, the bloodbath was unfortunate, “and we condole with the people and government of Benue State.”