Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Benue State government has fired back at the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) saying the group has no base but only trying to use the name of Governor Samuel Ortom to seek for patronage.
BMO had on Sunday, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary, Casiddy Madueke, accused Governor Ortom of fuelling crisis in Benue State and blaming it on armed Fulani herdsmen.
The group in the statement posited that Ortom had previously played politics with the security of his state by refusing to tell the truth about the true causes of the security situation in Benue but rather used the unfortunate events that took place in his state to curry political favour.
But reacting swiftly, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and ICT, Tahav Agerzua, said the latest outing of the group was only part of the blame-the-victim strategy employed by enemies of Benue State from within and outside the state, who, having failed in their bid to oust Governor Ortom through the electoral process, have resorted to shameless lies to tarnish his reputation
“Now is the season in which political jobbers such as Niyi Akinsiju and Casiddy Madueke are jostling for appointments from the Presidency, and one of the ways to curry favour is to launch unprovoked attacks on Governor Ortom so that they will be seen as ‘hardworking and deserving’ of appointments.
“The Buhari Media Organisation was not only confused about what to write in the hurriedly-published statement but also made a jest of its name with the unfounded allegations regarding the Benue State security situation.”
Agerzua recalled that the Fulani pastoralists under different names such as Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, (MACBAN), Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore (MAKH), Miyetti Allah Cattle Herders Association (MACHA), as well as Fulani Nationality Movement, (FUNAM) have all confirmed that indeed the Benue attacks were carried out by their members who claimed that their livestock were rustled.
“For instance, the National President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Abdullahi Bodejo and Secretary General, Saleh Alhassan, addressed a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday May 30, 2017, and stated that the crisis in Benue State was a struggle for the natural resources of the Benue valley.
The media adviser noted that the groups openly came out to declare fierce resistance to the Benue State Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law 2017 and threatened to mobilise other pastoralists from all parts of West Africa to invade Benue to stop implementation of the ranching law.
“They followed their threats with attacks beginning on January 1, 2018, and the larger part of that year until the Federal government, acting on repeated calls from the government and people of Benue State, deployed the military to commence Operation Whirl Stroke to chase the armed herders out of the state.
“In their bending over backwards to impress their sponsors, the BMO erroneously stated that Terwase Akwaza was Governor Ortom’s aide. Mr Akwaza, also known as Gana had at no time been appointed as an aide to the governor. He was a key beneficiary of the amnesty programme initiated by the Ortom administration,” the statement read in part.