Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Thursday, insisted that he gave full cooperation to all layers of security agencies working in the state to help curtail insecurity in various communities in the state.
The governor, in a press statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Nathaniel Ikyur, faulted the recent declaration by the presidency over the current security situation in the state, describing it as the height of recklessness and gross insensitivity against the people of Benue State.
The presidency, in a statement on Wednesday by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, stated that if Governor Ortom had been more concerned with doing his job than politicizing the tragedies so frequently taking place under his watch, the situation in Benue might have been different.
The presidency accused Ortom of stubbornly refusing to engage with the detailed, holistic approach clearly spelt out by the Federal Government and
arrogantly chose his own, destructive path.
However, Ortom said that he has been performing his duty as Governor of Benue State and will continue to do so until May 29, 2023 when he leaves office.
The statement by Ikyur explained that between 2015 and this year, Governor Ortom has constantly held security meetings and gathered intelligence to support security agencies operating in the state.
Ortom, the statement added, has consistently pointed out that the security agencies are grossly underfunded and deserve to be better equipped and motivated to tackle insecurity in the country.
He said that “it was therefore laughable when the SSA on Media and Publicity to the president, Mallam Shehu tried to whip up an unfounded lie against the Governor.”
“Shehu Garba’s infantile statement on the security situation in Benue State has once again confirmed our position that the killings; mass murder in Benue by the Fulani militia has the full endorsement of the Buhari government.
“Indeed, the Presidential spokesman’s futile attempts to twist events and history in Benue State is unfortunate and reprehensible.
“It shows how much he and others in that league have misled the government and Nigerian people in the last inglorious eight years.” The statement added.
Ortom lamented that President Buhari failed woefully in securing Nigeria, and Benue state in particular.
He said despite Governor Ortom’s repeated plea with the Buhari government to intervene in the incessant invasion of Benue State by Fulani militias, the President sadly chose to endorse the invasion and “merely asked our people to learn to accommodate their neighbours who derive pleasure in killing and dispossesing them of their ancestral lands.”
“What the Buhari administration has done to our people through the Fulani militants as confirmed by Shehu Garba is to spit on the graves of our compatriots mowed down needlessly by Fulani militia. We shall not forget these atrocities.”
