The government of Benue State has raised an alarm over a fresh plot by armed hired mercenaries to launch gruesome attacks on five major communities in the state.
The State Acting governor, Engineer Benson Abuonu, who spoke yesterday, Thursday in Makurdi, the state capital, said that security reports reaching him had indicated that a large number of hired mercenaries have already occupied the Benue valley, waiting to commence the attacks on the Tiv people of Benue and Nasarawa States.
The Acting governor, who addressed newsmen shortly after a meeting of the State Executive Council, explained that from the intelligence reports available to him, the killer herdsmen who are brought in trucks have been harboured in different locations and communities along the riverine areas on the boundary line of Nasarawa and Benue States, waiting to actualize their plan.
He said that the current situation is very pathetic and called for urgent response by the federal government to safeguard the lives and property of the people of the area.
“We have received security reports which indicated that large numbers of hired armed mercenaries have moved into the Benue valley and bad mapped out five different locations to launch attacks on the areas simultaneously”, Engr Abuonu said, adding that “the development is absolutely worrisome and unhealthy to our state and we condemn it in totality.”
The Acting governor maintained that since he got this report, the government has been making a lot of contacts and meeting with all the heads of security formations in the state to find ways of stopping the people “.
He appealed to the federal government to urgently deploy more security personnel to the state to be stationed in and around the border communities to protect the farmers.
The president of Tiv socio-cultural organization, Mzough U Tiv, Chief Edward Ujege who also spoke with the journalists, regretted that President Muhammad Buhari has failed in his responsibility by maintaining a deafening silence in the midst of mindless killings by Fulani herdsmen insurgents.
“The federal government has failed to protect our people and I join the National Assembly in calling for the resignation of all the service chiefs for failing in their responsibilities to protect Nigerian citizens.”[myad]
