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Tag: Benue killings

  • Benue Killings: How CCT judge escaped abduction

    A member of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Justice William Adteze, narrowly escaped death when bandits attacked his country home in Benue State.

    His kinsmen were however not as lucky as four of them were slaughtered by the marauders. Narrating how the unfortunate incident happened, Hon. Mike Adteze told The Nation in an exclusive interview that Justice William Adteze was home in Ngibo village, Katsina Ala local Local government area in Benue state for Easter holiday.

    Mike, a former chairman of Katsina Ala L.G.A, said Justice Adteze who was in the village with his wife, suddenly changed his mind about spending the night and drove back to his base. “Same night, armed bandits numbering over 20 stormed his farm house and slaughtered four persons. The armed men also made away with 28 cows in the farm house belonging to the CCT judge.” He further stated that while the bandits were escaping, they came across a bus driver and slaughtered him before making away with his vehicle.

    “On their way they killed four other persons bringing total number of people killed to eleven,” he added. The Nation gathered the killings sparked bloody unrest in Kstsina Ala town, the headquarters of Katsina Ala Local Government Area. The town was engulfed in another round of killings which led to total a breakdown of law and order. The killings and burning of houses continued until the Benue State government imposed a 24hour curfew on the town. Governor Samuel Ortom who was on leave cut short his vacation in China and returned home to tackle the situation

    Ortom blamed the killings on criminal elements within the Sankera geo-political axis and called on security agencies to apprehend anyone found tomenting trouble. Meanwhile soldiers have been deployed in the area to contend the situation. Normalcy is gradually returning to the area.

     

  • Herdsmen kill 16, injure two in Benue

    Suspected herdsmen on Wednesday killed 16 persons and injured two others during an invasion of Ebete community in Usha council ward of Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State.

    Our correspondent gathered the herdsmen stormed the area at about 1am when the residents were fast asleep.

    They reportedly opened fire on houses as the attacked community residents attempted to escape in the ensuing melee.

    After the attackers escaped, 16 people were confirmed dead while two others sustained injuries.

    They are said to be receiving treatment at General Hospital in Obagaji, headquarters of Agatu LGA.

    An eyewitness, Daddy Seni, who spoke to our correspondent in Makurdi, said his father and siblings were among the deceased.

    Read Also: Two feared killed as suspected herdsmen attack Delta community

    The Acting Chairman of Agatu local government council, Alhaji Oyigocho, also confirmed the incident.

    He said he had visited Ebete community with some council members in company of security agencies.

    The Force Commander Operation Whirl Stroke, Maj Gen Adeyemi Yekini, said the armed bandits actually invaded there areas but that they were yet to ascertain the number of casualties.

    “I received a report this afternoon that some people were killed in Agatu by suspected armed bandits.

    “I’m not sure of the number of casualty yet but I don’t think it’s up to 16.

    “We have sent a patrol team to the general area where the incident happened.

    “The location where it happened, although is in Benue can better be accessed through Loko in Nasarawa State”.

    Yekini, in a statement explained, he had already deployed a patrol team to the area verify what really happened.

    Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom described the incident as quite unfortunate and condemnable.

    He urged security agencies to move to forestall further attacks on innocent people of Benue State.

    Ortom, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, lterver Akase, said Benue can’t afford another rounds of killings close to general elections.

    “Yes I can confirm that the governor of Benue State met earlier today with the commissioner of Police Mr. Bishi and he confirmed that there was attack in Ebete in Agatu earlier today in which seventeen persons were killed by suspected armed herdsmen.

    “We feel that this is unfortunate because the governor has raised an alarm that some persons for political reasons are planning to unleashed armed herdsmen on innocent Benue people, to create fear in the people for political gains,” he said.

  • NGO faults Amnesty’s report on Benue killings

    A non-government organisation (NGO) in Benue State, the Movement Against Fulani Occupation (MAFO), has faulted the report of Amnesty International (AI) on herdsmen killings across the Nigeria, especially in the state.

    AI, towards the end of last year, released a report, titled: Harvest of Deaths: Three Years of Bloody Clashes Between Farmers and Herders in Nigeria.

    The report, which was presented in the presence of reporters, civil society groups, various ethnic groups, diplomats and security agencies, put the figure of the dead in the last three years at 726.

    But MAFO, which addressed a world media briefing at the weekend at Steam Restaurant in Makurdi, the state capital, said the AI report, which chronicles herdsmen killing of farmers, fell short of the standard expected of a reputable human rights organisation.

    In a speech read by its spokesman Terence Vembah at the media briefing, the NGO noted the use of the word “clashes” by AI was misleading and unacceptable to the people of Benue State.

    MAFO said: “The use of the word ‘clashes’ presupposes some form of confrontation with the Fulani herdsmen attackers. This is not the case, even by the AI report, as harmless Catholics priest, who are not farmers, were killed during a morning mass. Thousands of unarmed woman and children killed in their sleep can never be said to be ‘clashes’.”

    The NGO, which is at the forefront of the enactment of the Anti-Open Grazing Law in Benue State, added: “The genocide or ethnic cleansing carried out on their defenceless kith and kin cannot be downplayed with the importation of such ridiculous phrases to describe same.”

    The NGO also faulted the AI figure of 726 deaths in the state, saying: “The report on Benue killings is a gross misrepresentation of facts and figures on the true picture of the atrocities committed by the invaders on Benue soil aimed at turning down the exact number of the casualties from the carnage.

    “In Agatu alone, herdsmen attacked and killed 3,920 persons, and it was established, just as the report also failed to capture the colossal damage to property in farmland and other socio- economic bases of Benue communities.”

    MAFO rejected the AI report, saying it lacked the vital ingredients of the state’s perspective, especially as related to the killing.

    It called for ranching as the solution to the crisis and compliance with te Anti-Open Grazing Law to save lives and property.

     

     

  • Govt faults Ameachi’s comments on Benue killings

    The Benue State government has dismissed allegations by the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, that the residents were responsible for the killing of two Catholic priest and 17 worshipers at Mbalom in Gwer East Local Government Area.

    Amaechi made the comment when he appeared last Sunday on a Channels Television programme, Hard Copy.

    A statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and ICT, Chief Tahav Agerzua, described the comment as a deliberate strategy by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to change the true narrative on the killings.

    The statement recalled that APC’s National Chairman Adams Oshiomole had also made a similar claim.

    It said: “Unfortunately for both APC stalwarts, investigations and interviews conducted by reputable media organisations revealed, without any doubts, that the killers are Fulani herdsmen militia out on a conquest and occupation agenda of the Benue Valley and other territories in Nigeria.

    “Two of these organisations, Al-Jazeera and Television Continental (TVC), aired their findings on their stations on May 7 and August 20.

    “These investigations and testimonies of the victims and witnesses debunk Mr Amaechi’s statements regarding the murder of the Mbalom 19 as not only false but also reckless, mindless and a shameful dance on the graves of the victims.

    “Curiously, this is not the first time that a Minister of the Federal Government had made mockery of Benue people with inflammatory statements bordering on herdsmen attacks and killings in the state.

    “Amaechi, after stating categorically that the Mbalom 19 were killed by their own people, failed to provide any evidence to back his claim but rather went on to allege that some of the suspects arrested in connection with the killings were working with Governor Samuel Ortom.

    “It is, therefore, clear that the objective of the minister is to smear the governor’s reputation.

    “Amaechi apparently forgot that one of those accused of complicity in the Mbalom murder was recently released from detention without arraignment and any proof to link Governor Ortom with the murders.

    “However, whoever murdered the priests and the other worshippers as well as carried out any other killings in Benue State and anywhere in Nigeria, it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to fish out and bring them to book.

    “That the agents of the Federal Government of Nigeria have shirked their responsibility and rather embarked on a deliberate effort to change the narrative indicates that they are accomplices.

    “More so that Fulani leaders, including Garus Gololo, claimed responsibility for the Benue attacks and killings, citing justification for rustled cattle; yet, none of them has been arrested and prosecuted.

    “Amaechi’s unguarded comments on the unfortunate incident in Mbalom bring to mind earlier statements by the Minister of Defence and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), who described the herdsmen invasion and killing of Benue people as a ‘mere communal clash’.

    “We wonder why those occupying sensitive positions in the current Federal Government have chosen to play games with the lives of Nigerians. How committed and sincere are such persons in their advice to the President, if they can’t hide their biases on issues affecting ordinary people?

    “We expect Amaechi to publicly prove his allegation on the Mbalom killings or retract his comments and tender a public apology to families of the victims as well as the government and people of Benue State.”

     

  • Oshiomhole, Ortom clash over Benue killings

    All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman  Adams Oshiomhole  launched a tirade against  Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State yesterday, claiming that the governor is partly responsible for the security  challenge in the state.

    He also accused the governor of non-performance and aggravating the level of poverty among his people.

    But Ortom, who dumped the APC on Wednesday, fired back immediately.

    He said Oshiomhole appeared to know more about the killings in Benue  and was hiding the truth from Nigerians.

    He threatened to sue the APC chair for disparaging him.

    In firing the first salvo yesterday, Oshiomole had said Ortom’s  exit is a blessing in disguise for  the APC after all.

    He  told reporters in Abuja that contrary to claims by the governor about the killings and general  security situation in the  state, Ortom  was partly responsible for the problem.

    “Governor Ortom has complicated,  by his own actions and poor judgement, the security situation in the state,” he said , citing reports by APC leaders in Benue State.

    “They drew our attention to the fact that some of those that have been arrested as a result of the killings are people who have been associated with him, including people in his employment, especially a guy known to have been involved with Boko Haram, whom he recruited to manage what they called forest guards.

    “These people have been arrested and are in police custody. If an appointee of a governor is involved in a heinous crime, including killing, that will be enough for a governor to worry about.

    “Instead, he played up the ethnic dimension of criminality, even though some of those killed were killed not by Muslims but Christians of Benue State origin, including those he employed.

    “These people have been in police custody; so, his attempt to explain away criminality by playing the ethnic card is unhelpful to what he should do as governor to manage the situation better.

    “After all, those in Benue State have always been there and his predecessors, including Suswam, had found ways to manage these diversities. So, Ortom’s incapacity to manage it and even seeking  to make political capital of the death of Benue people is unfortunate.

    “It is important that Nigerians understand that the condemnable killing  of two Reverend Fathers and some Christians in a church, those who have confessed to these crimes include people who have worked with Gov. Ortom and these killings were done few weeks after one of them was extremely critical during his sermon about the governance of the state and the style of governance of the Governor.

    “His price obviously was to pay with his dear life and not a few thought that the governor would celebrate that. I am not about to suggest that Gov, Ortom might have asked anybody to go and kill anyone, but that some of those involved in these killings are Benue State originated are Christians.

    “That is not to deny that some herdsmen have also been involved in the killings. But the responsibility of any government is not to seek to manipulate this, but to confront it.

    “As a party, we condemn any life that has been wasted by criminals and we accept that government’s  responsibility is to protect life and property. But I condemn anyone of us who seeks to make political capital out of these killings because we have shared responsibility to protect their lives regardless of their religion or location. So, we are relived that Ortom has returned to PDP.

    “When you look at it, he got our ticket on a platter of gold because he was never a participant in the building process of the party. He became a candidate by accident. The lesson to learn is that never again should people become candidates by accident.”

    Oshiomhole also described   Ortom’s  three and a  half years as governor as a waste as he has  no single  project to show for the mandate given him.

    His words: “In spite of the allocation accruing to Benue State, the bailout fund amounting  to over N20 billion and the huge sums of money collected from the Paris Club refund, he was not paying salaries to Benue workers, including teachers, local government employees and civil servants. He is owing some of the as much as 12 months salaries.

    “So, the entire economy of Benue State that survives  on civil servants salaries is  compromised. “Those who live on rents paid by civil servants cannot collect their rents with which to survive, thereby having effect on the commercial life of the people. This explains a vicious circle of poverty in Benue State that has deepened under Gov. Ortom.“There was also the fact that for three and half years that he has been in office, he cannot point to any concrete project that he has carried out. He cannot point to any major project that has been completed.

    “When we asked him these questions and allegations that while  the Vice President and the President had visited other states to commission projects, in Benue  they have only paid condolence visit. It is okay to lament the absence of federal presence, but what is the excuse for the absence of state projects in the state?

    “His argument is that he had diverted a lot of the resources to security issue. That raises the issue. Can you be spending N22 billion on security and the people are increasingly insecure? So if you accept that he spent money on security, it meant that he realized  that he has a responsibility to secure life and not pass the buck.

    “So, I felt scandalized watching him saying he had to leave the APC because he did not feel secure. To be honest, I am relieved as National Chairman and the leadership of our party in Benue State are relieved that he has returned to where he came from.

    “So, we now have a clean platform to search for a credible Benue citizen that can provide the kind of leadership that Benue State deserves and not one who seeks to make political capital out of human graves and celebrating the death of his own people.

    Ortom announced his defection from the APC on Wednesday,a few hours before he was due to attend another round of peace talks at the party’s national secretariat.

     

    Oshiomhole has something to hide, I’ll sue him, says Ortom

    In a swift reaction last night to Oshiomhole’s comment, Ortom  threatened to sue the APC chair  “because  it is clear that there is  something about the killers that he is hiding.”

    “For him to come out with these allegations shows that he has something  he is hiding,” the governor said through his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase.

    He said: “Miyetti Allah groups have severally claimed responsibility for the Benue killings ,yet the Federal Government controlled by Oshiomhole’s party has not deemed it necessary to invite them for questioning.”

    He also dismissed allegation on non performance  by the governor.

    “That is double speak.It is laughable,coming from Oshiomhole.

    “Just last week, he eulogized Ortom as one of the stars  of APC, one of the bst performing governors and this week he said the governor has not performed.

    “He is saying one thing in the morning and another in the evening.

    “We advise him to concentrate on his job as party chairman.

    “He is speaking on everything and on anything.

    “The other day he was counseling the president on how to run his government and chastening the ministers.

    “He should desist from delving into issues  not pertaining to his position.”

  • Police parade councillor, seven others over Benue killings

    The police on Tuesday paraded a serving councilor from Fidi Council Ward in Makurdi, Benue State, and seven others over their alleged involvement in the killings in some parts of the state.

    The suspects paraded at the Force Headquarters in Abuja were Benjamin Bagugba Tivfa, Victor Ganabe, Daniel Kyase, Alhaji Adajo Tomza, Msugh Teraki, Julius Avaan, Terkula Udeh and Sunday Cheche.

    Four out of the seven suspects were staff of the Benue State Livestock Guards.

    The police described the gang members as criminal militias led by the councillor.

    Items recovered from them include two AK47 rifles and 436 rounds of AK47 ammunition.

    The police also said investigation has revealed that staff of the Benue State Livestock Guards were responsible for killings in the state.

    The Force Spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, said: “On the 27th June, 2018, the IGP Intelligence Response Team (IRT) deployed to Benue State acted promptly on actionable intelligence and other information from concerned members of the public, trailed and arrested six of the suspects in their hideout in a hotel in Naka village, Benue State, and recovered arms and ammunition.

    “The arrest of the six suspects – Victor Ganabe (35), Daniel Kyase (33), Alhaji Adajo Tomza (28), Msugh Teraki  (23), Julius Avaan (49) and Terkula Udeh (37) led to the arrest of Benjamin Bagugba Tivfa (32), who is a Serving Honourable Councillor of Fidi Council Ward, Makurdi, Benue State.”

    Moshood said the suspects confessed that the councillor is a member of their gang and responsible for supply of arms, ammunition and money to fund their operations.

     

     

  • Benue killings:  Defence Minister’s statement invitation to anarchy, say tribal leaders

    The three socio-cultural organisations in Benue State, Mzough- U-Tiv ( MUT), Idoma National Forum ( INF) and Omi Ny’ Igede ( ONI) said the statement by the Minister of Defence, Brigadier General Mansur Mohammed Dan-Ali (rtd), on anti-grazing law is an invitation to anarchy in the country.

    The Defence Minister had, after a security meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and other service chiefs,  called for the suspension of  Anti-Open Grazing Prohibition Laws in Benue, Taraba and Ekiti states.

    But in their reaction, tribal leaders in Benue State in a press  statement signed by their leaders, Chief Edward Ujege,  Barrister Amale Adoya Amale  and Ben Okpa, for Tiv, Idoma and Igede ethnic groups respectively, said “the minister is acting as if the country is under a military rule.”

    They described the statement by the Minster of Defence as unfortunate coming shortly after a National Security Council meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The statement reads in part: “After the 2018 New Year Day attack on Benue, wherein no fewer than 73 persons were killed, this same man justified the act when he told the press that the killings were as a result of ‘grazing law.’

    “The minister asserted that the law was the immediate cause of the killings in Benue State. This is a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria after a National Security Council meeting, justifying why a section of the country would carry arms against another.

    “Otherwise, how do we explain when in a democracy, a supposed educated and professional would call for a unilateral suspension of an act of parliament? lt seems to us that Mansur Dan-Ali imagines that the current democratic dispensation is a military rule where decisions are taken unilaterally. Mansur Dan-Ali: Go to court! That is how it is done or better still, go through the legislature that enacted the law for repeal; this is our candid advice.

    “We make haste to remind Mr. President to call his aides to order by guiding their utterances, especially when speaking on issues that border on national security. Dan-Ali and Inspector General of Police Idris Ibrahim have left us without iota of doubt to agree with General Theophilus Danjuma that indeed, there is collusion with our killers to displace us from our ancestral homes and take over our land.

    “Let it be known that we are in agreement with the recent resolution by the National Assembly to President Buhari to adhere to the rule of law; also holding the President accountable for the actions of his appointees as well as marching orders to security agencies to curtail the killings of Nigerians. “

  • Benue killings not product of planned agenda, says Osinbajo

    VICE President Yemi Osinbajo has denied claims that the killings in Benue State were the outcome of a planned agenda to eliminate the people.

    Osinbajo, who is in Benue State on a two-day working visit, made the denial on Tuesday during a stakeholders meeting at the Benue People’s Government House, Makurdi.

    He said: “Even though I don’t really believe that there is any ethnic cleansing agenda in the Benue killings, I sincerely share in your pains.  Every pain and anger you express are justified and right.

    “Anyone who has lost someone is expected to be sad. When people are killed the way people have been killed either by herdsmen or anyone, it is the duty of government to protect the people and the only way we can prove that there is no agenda is to protect the people, which is what we are set out to do.

    “Like the governor rightly observed, we have beefed up security with the intention that people return home soon.  People have to be restored to what they were doing.

    “It is important that places that were destroyed have to be rebuilt.  We need to ensure that children who are out of school return to school. Farmers who have lost their produce need to be given money through the Anchor Borrowers Programme to go and improve on what they were doing.

    “All of these are the obligations of government and I will ensure they are done because I have been asked to specifically deal with these and it means I will regularly visit Benue until the mission is accomplished.”

    Osinbajo also dismissed the religious colorations attached to the killings, saying “persecutions have always been with Christians and it is the duty of Christians to stop it”.

    “The gospel of Jesus cannot be killed by anybody; it is not fragile or written on a piece of paper,” he explained.

    He said the recent recruitments into the various arms of the security agencies were aimed at providing effective security protection to the people, especially communities under frequent attacks.

    The vice president also condoled with the Catholic Church for the attack on its priests and worshippers at Saint Ignatius Parish Mbalom, where 18 people including two catholic priests were killed by suspected armed herdsmen.

    Governor Samuel Ortom called on the Federal Government to fish out the killers of the two priests and their parishioners that were murdered in cold blood by gunmen.

    He also called for more humanitarian aids to the state to handle the displaced people who were living in inappropriate sanitary conditions.

    Maj-Gen Lawrence Onoja called for the establishment of “Middle Belt Reconstruction Commission” to tackle the most of the challenges the state faced, especially in agriculture.

    He called on the Federal Government to arrest the killer-herdsmen and provide protection to farmers to enable them return to their farms.

    Catholic Bishop of Gboko Diocese, Most Rev. Williams Avenya, regretted the attacks on innocent citizens and called on the government to encourage the ranching of livestock as a panacea to the bloodbath in the Benue valley.

    Speaker, Benue House of Assembly Terkimbi Ikyange called on the government to encourage the adoption of the Anti-Open Grazing Law by all states to end the acrimonious relationship with herders.

  • Benue killings: No ethnic agenda – Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the killings in Benue is not a function of ethnic agenda.

    Speaking at a stakeholders meeting with the Benue opinion leaders on Tuesday night at Government House Makurdi, Osinbajo said:

    “Even though I don’t really believe that there is any ethnic cleansing agenda in the Benue killings, I sincerely share in your pains. Every pain and anger you express are justified and right.

    Anyone who has lost someone is expected to be sad. When people are killed the way people have been killed either by herdsmen or anyone, it is the duty of government to protect the people and the only way we can prove that there is no agenda is to protect the people which is what we are set out to do.

    Read Also: Suspected herdsman defiles girl, 14, in Ebonyi community

    According to him, Securities have been beefed up with the intention that people return home soon. “People have to be restored to what they were doing.” He said.

    “It is important that places that were destroyed have to be rebuilt. We need to ensure that children who are out of school return back to school. Farmers who have lost their produce need to be given money through the Anchor Borrowers Program to go and improve on what they were doing.

    “All of these are the obligations of government and I will ensure they are done because I have been asked to specifically deal with these and it means I will regularly visit Benue until the mission is accomplished.

     

  • Baptist Church protests Benue killings

    Members of the First Baptist Church Ipaja in Lagos last Sunday protested against killings across the nation by suspected herdsmen, especially in Benue and other North Central states.

    They said the killings were becoming unbearable, calling on the federal government to stop at nothing to bring the perpetrators to book.

    The protest march, in response to a directive by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), spread into surrounding streets of the church.

    Hundreds of worshippers carried placards with various inscriptions, demanding an end to the killings.

    They also demanded the prompt release of Leah Sharibu, the kidnapped Dapchi girl still in the custody of Boko Haram for allegedly refusing to deny her Christian faith.

    Senior Pastor of the church, Rev Michael Abodunrin, accused the federal government of not doing enough in arresting the ugly situation leading to loss of lives and properties in major places of Benue.

    He particularly frowned at the killing of worshippers in a Catholic  Church penultimate week.

    Abodunrin said: “We condemn the activities of the herdsmen that are killing people, herdsmen have no reason to carry gun and the evil they are perpetrating in the Middle Belt is enough.”

    He wondered why Sharibu was still in captivity after government negotiated for the release of over 100 Dapchi girls.