Benue Killings: IGP Complicit, On Mission to Mislead Nigerians, Says Ortom

• Gov insists killings preceded anti-open grazing law Herdsmen-farmers’ clash claims lives in Adamawa

Abimbola Akosile in Lagos, George Okoh in Makurdi, Daji Sani in Yola

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State saturday condemned the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, for blaming the incessant killing of natives by herdsmen on the state’s anti-open grazing law, saying the IGP’s stance portrays him as deceitful and complicit in the murders. In a statement by his press secretary, Mr. Terver Akase, Ortom said the bloody attacks on communities by herdsmen predated the law and prompted it, as the state government sought measures to stop the killings.

In a related development, several people were killed yesterday in Song and Shelleng local government areas of Adamawa State, with many villages destroyed, following a gun and arson attack by herdsmen said to be on a reprisal mission. The affected villages included Simba, Shure, and other adjoining communities.

Ortom was in the release responding to statements credited to Idris, where he was quoted as offering the law banning open grazing of cattle in Benue State as explanation for the recent killings in the state. An unnamed member of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs had on Friday alleged that the IGP told the committee that the implementation of the law was responsible for the attacks by herders, which resulted in the death of 73 persons in Logo and Guma local government areas on January 1. He was also alleged to have called for the suspension of the law. Idris appeared had before the committee behind closed doors to brief the lawmakers on his extent of compliance with a two-week ultimatum issued him on January 14 by the senate to arrest and prosecute the assailants.

The governor stated in the release, “We read statements credited to the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, as having blamed the recent killing of innocent Benue people by herdsmen on the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of the state. We thought that the IGP was misquoted and expected the police authorities to issue a rebuttal to the reports, hence our delay in responding. Consequently, we have to respond to the erroneous impression, which the reports have created.”

He said the law was conceived as a permanent solution to the spate of attacks and clashes between crop farmers and herders, stressing that the IGP’s conclusion that the law is the cause of the crisis is unfortunate.

“This is shameful. If truly the IGP said what was widely reported by the media, our conclusion is that his is a clear case of a man who is either on a mission to mislead the nation or is complicit in the attacks on Benue communities and the killing of many people by terror herdsmen,” the statement said.

The governor noted that Fulani herdsmen had attacked Benue State more than 50 times and killed several people before the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law was enacted.

He added, “The IGP should tell Nigerians if states like Adamawa, Zamfara, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Enugu, Edo, Plateau, among others, where armed herdsmen have killed hundreds of people, also have anti-open grazing laws in place.”

Ortom stated, “With his latest demand that the ranching law of Benue be suspended, it is now clear where the loyalty and interest of the Inspector General of Police lies – certainly not with innocent Nigerians. He has now positioned himself not only as the mouthpiece of those who are killing Benue people but, indeed, as their shield. Little wonder herdsmen still proudly carry sophisticated weapons and wilfully terrorise innocent people in the state without being arrested.

“We wish to place it on record that contrary to the directive by President Muhammadu Buhari that the Inspector General of Police should relocate to Benue to ensure that the killings stop, the IGP spent only one day in Benue and left for a destination where only he could tell. No one has seen him in Benue since that day.”

The governor said killings were still going on in the state, despite claims by Idris that the police had provided adequate security for the people.

He said, “The constitutional responsibility of the police is to maintain law and order and not to make or criticise same. That the IGP would have the audacity to blame a law made to ensure peace in the state and call for its repeal amounts to taking sides with lawless groups that gave notice to invade and carried out their threats.

“There is no surprise that the police ignored petitions for the arrest and prosecution of leaders of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, the masterminds of the current invasion and the attendant massacre.

“If the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Idris, is not competent to help bring an end to the invasion and killing of innocent people in Benue and other states by herdsmen, the noble thing to do is to resign instead of twisting facts to suit his objective.”

Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Hon. Terkimbir Ikyange, spoke in a similar vein. Ikyange debunked insinuations that the anti-open grazing law of the state was the cause of the killings by herdsmen. He said the Miyetti Allah, IGP, and others currently using the law as alibi for murder were given ample opportunity to make inputs during the making of the law, but they failed to contribute and only chose to sabotage the law.

Meanwhile, the crisis in Adamawa State was reported to have started after some herders led their cattle into a local pond said to the only source of drinking water in the area and matched a woman who complained about their action. This irked the locals who mobilised and tried to force out the intruding Fulani herders and their cattle, allegedly, killing four herdsmen in the resultant melee. The herders were said to have called in reinforcements, which launched a fierce attack on the communities, killing many people and razing entire villages.

The Police Public Relations Officer in Adamawa State, Mr. Othman Abubakar, a Superintendent of Police, confirmed the incident, but said he could not give the causality figure until full details were received from the Divisional Police Officer in the area.

In the meantime, former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri, has called for more deployment of technology to tackle the security challenges in the country. Waziri, who is also the founder of a non-governmental organisation, Women Youths Children and Crime Organisation, made the call in Makurdi, when she led other officials of the group to donate relief materials persons displaced by the herdsmen attacks in the state.