Benue killings: I’ll not be discouraged –Ortom

From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi

BENUE State Gover­nor, Samuel Ortom has said his administration would not be discour­aged by the seeming rise in crime in the state. Ortom insisted that the killings would only be for a short while.

The governor, who stated this at a prayer session at the Chapel of Grace, Benue People’s House, maintained that his family would con­tinue to rely on God in this trying times and added that the killing of his Senior Special As­sistant on Security, Mr Denen Igbana, will not scare his administra­tion.

“If it was someone else, he would have gone for a ‘babalawo,’ but, for me, I will rely on God in these chal­lenging times,” he reit­erated.

He expressed assur­ance that those who had a hand in Denen Igbana’s death would be exposed because he (late Igbana) anchored the amnesty programme and rescued many of those abducted without the payment of ransom.

“As I stand on the al­tar of God, I say anyone who had a hand in his death will reap what he has sowed,” Ortom em­phasised.

The governor admit­ted that his administra­tion was facing chal­lenges in the area of salaries and explained that the federal allo­cation was N2 billion in February while in March and April, it dropped to N1.7 billion and N1.4 billion respec­tively.

Ortom, who declared that these were indeed trying times for his ad­ministration explained that workers’ salaries, pension and overhead costs stood at N4 bil­lion but assured that no enemy would triumph over him.

He urged Christians in the state to for­tify themselves with prayers and declared that anybody waiting to see if his administra­tion would fail would be put to shame.