Benue Assembly Orders IG to Arrest Fulani Herders’ Leadership

George Okoh in Makurdi

The Benue State House of Assembly has called on the Inspector General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Idris, to immediately effect the arrest of the leadership of the cattle breeders under the aegis of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore for treason and inciting public unrest in the state.

The Speaker of the assembly, Mr. Terkimbi Ikyange, gave the ruling after a debate on a motion of urgent public importance moved by the Majority Leader, Benjamin Adanyi, who drew the attention of the assemly to the uncomplimentary remarks made by the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore during a media conference.

Adanyi explained that their comments amounted to treasonable felony, saying it has become clear that the attack on Benue communities is not as a result of quest for grazing but an agitation to takeover the state.

The National President of the Association, Alhaji Abdullahi Bello. and Secretary, Mr. Saleh Alhassan, last Tuesday, addressed a world press conference in Abuja where they did not only kick against the Anti Open Grazing Law recently enacted in the state but vowed to mobilise their members nationwide to resist the implementation of the law.

The group also erroneously attributed the herdsmen-farmers crises in the state to the struggle for natural resources and laid claim to be the real inhabitants of the Benue valley.

Ikyange equally mandated the state Governor, Samuel Ortom, to lead a high-powered delegation comprising all the senators and members of the House of Representatives from the state, the Speaker of the state assembly and other prominent indigenes of the state to meet President Muhammadu Buhari to brief him on the grievances of the state as contained in the publication.
The assembly also condemned the spurious allegations and threats made by the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders, describing it as capable of breaching the peace in the state.

According to the Speaker, the assembly will support the state governor to fully implement the Open Grazing Prohibition Law, saying the law is aimed at protecting both farmers and herders contrary to the allegations of the leadership of the cattle breeders.

The assembly called on the people of the state to remain calm and law abiding in the face of this provocative outburst of the Fulani Cattle Breeders Association as government would not fold its arms and watch a Fulani association intimidate and harass them in any way.

All those who contributed to the debate included Mr. Ianna Jato, Mrs. Ngunan Addingi, Mr. Avine Agbom, Mr. Richard Ujege, Adam Okloho, among others, described the utterances by the Miyetti leadership as an attempt to re-write history with a deliberate attempt to mislead the public and insult the sensibilities of Benue people.