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From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Leaders of the three major socio-cultural organizations in Benue State – Mdzough U Tiv, MUT, Ochetoha K’Idoma and Omi Ny’Igede, have asked the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore (MAKH), the umbrella body of Fulani herdsmen, to be ready to take not just Governor Samuel Ortom but the entire Benue people to The Hague.
The groups in a statement jointly signed by their leaders, Chief Iorbee Ihagh rtd. (MUT), AVM Tony Adokwu, Rtd (Ochetoha K’Idoma) and Dr Comrade Ben Okpa, (Omi Ny’Igede), raised serious concern over the continuous outbursts by MAKH and the Fulani herdsmen whom they noted, had continually unleashed mayhem on Benue people under the guise of grazing their cattle.
“We wish to place on record that in Benue State in particular and Nigeria in general, the Miyetti Allah herdsmen militia under the guise of grazing their cattle, have visited pogrom on innocent people leading to displacement of over 1.5 million people from their ancestral homes with farmlands no longer accessible.
“Hundreds have been orphaned and wives widowed. Peasant farmers who had hitherto contributed immensely to making Benue the ‘Food Basket of the Nation’ can no longer go to their farms for fear of being killed in cold blood.
“The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore as a group is infamously known for their terror activities which they perpetrate with crass impunity and lawlessness and have continued to vehemently resist every lawful effort made by the government of Benue State under the leadership of Governor Samuel Ortom to guarantee peace and security of lives and property in the state.”
The groups noted that the MAKH, in its usual campaign of victimization and antagonization of Governor Ortom’s efforts toward ensuring peace and security of Benue people, recently openly threatened that they would drag the governor to the International Criminal Court of Justice in The Hague for what they claimed was abuse of their rights and seizing of 25,000 cows belonging to their members.
While describing the threats as ridiculous and nauseating, the Benue socio-cultural groups maintained that the terrorist atrocities committed by the Miyetti Allah group against Benue people and elsewhere across the country are fresh in the minds of all good spirited Nigerians.
They posited that for the group to turn around and play the victim is a deliberate callous mischief to twist the narrative.
“In any case, as law abiding citizens, we as leaders of the socio-cultural groups in Benue State, hereby state categorically that the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore must be prepared to take all Benue people to the Hague, and not only Governor Ortom.
The Benue leaders emphasized that Governor Ortom was popularly elected by their people, stressing that he has their total mandate and they fully support every lawful initiative by his administration to tackle security challenges to bring about enduring peace in the state.
