Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has scored the recent visit of President Muhammadu Buhari very low, an insinuation that the president’s visit made no difference in the plight of the people. Three days after President’s visit to Benue State, the state government still laments that the visit did not rekindle any hope in the people.
The Special Adviser to Governor Ortom on Media and ICT, Tahaz Agerzua, a television program, Sunrise Daily, on Channels on Thursday monitored from Lagos, remarked that the President’s visit to Benue came weeks after rural communities in Guma and Logo Local Government Areas were attacked by Fulani herdsmen, leading to the death of 73 persons. He noted that the belated visit did not give the people any hope of protection from the Fulani herdsmen or safety of their land.
According to Agerzua: “We appreciate the visit but we didn’t get any hope. In Benue State, the President did not condole with us. We appreciate that he was able to take his time and come and sit down for several hours to listen to the stakeholders but he did not sympathize with the families of the deceased.”
He maintained that the people of Benue State expected President Buhari to assure them of chasing the ‘invaders’ from the state, but that was not done.
Benue State Government held mass burial for the 73 persons killed by the Fulani herdsmen on New Year day. Thereafter, more people were killed by the herdsmen which Governor Ortom had planned their mass funeral on the Friday preceding President Buhari’s visit but had to cancel it because of the visit.
Governor Ortom’s Media Aide decried that the Miyetti Allah Kuatal Hore issued a threat to resist the Anti-Open Grazing Law being implemented in Benue State, noting that President Buhari was silent on that threat during his visit.
“What we expected from the President was to give us assurance that the invaders would be chased out; there are presently 170,000 displaced people in eight counts across the state, that is a huge humanitarian crisis.
“We thought that there would be some word of chasing these people so that the displaced can return to their houses,” he said.