Declare armed herders terrorists for foreign help, group tells FG

• Ortom lauds Tiv in U.S. for patriotism

A group, Plateau State Indigenes Development Association (PSIDA), has urged the Federal Government to immediately declare armed herdsmen terrorists for the international community to contain their deadly activities.

The body also wants the issue of state police to be revisited owing to the perceived shortage of manpower in the force as well as for the governors to effectively secure lives and property.Addressing a press conference yesterday in Abuja, the president of the association, Kyauta Damulak, insisted that the business of animal husbandry was a private one, calling on stakeholders in the cattle-rearing field to procure land for ranching, believing government to enact laws that consolidate the policy.

By so doing, he noted that suspicion would be erased while jobs are created in line with global best practices.The group also backed the calls for the overhaul of the nation’s security architecture, just as it canvassed help for victims of the attacks.Damulak urged traditional and religious leaders to condemn the massacres on the Plateau and other parts of the federation.

However, Governor Samuel Ortom has lauded the Mutual Union of Tiv in America (MUTA) for speaking against the mayhem in Plateau State.He made the commendation yesterday at the Benue Peoples’ House, Makurdi during a courtesy visit by a delegation led Professor Kwaghdoo Atsor Bosua, who said they came to crave support for their yearly health programme.

According to the governor, the medical outreach, meant to cater for internationally displaced persons (IDPs), was apt, adding that this special category of people deserved help more than any one.He stated that the gesture smacks of love, patriotism and support for the Tiv nation.Bosua said they were providing a six-day medical care to the IDPs in all camps statewide.