Benue Governor Samuel Ortom has declared his support for a military option, amongst other efforts, to halt the wave of killings going on in the state.
But he rejects the Federal Government’s plan to establish cattle colonies in the state.
He said he has yet to understand the concept.
Ortom spoke with State House correspondents after a meeting he had with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to him, he had briefed the Buhari on the telephone immediately the incident took place, but he had to meet the Buhari as soon as the state achieved some level of peace.
“Any policy or any directive, anything that will help stop the killing of these innocent people who are not armed, I will support it because this cannot continue,” he said when asked on his view about the security strategy to be applied.
“We know that the continuity of this will create greater challenges. I don’t want it to continue. We are struggling with economic issues, we are struggling with political issues and we are struggling with several other issues in this country, security issues and all that, Benue State should not be part of this, there is no need for it.”
Benue, the food basket of the nation erupted in violence on January 1 as herdsmen and farmers clashed. The violence continued till January 6, bring the total body count of dead victims to 80 so far.
Aso Rock has asked IGP Ibrahim Idris to relocate to the state as security chiefs hatch plans to de-escalate the violence in Benue and three other state.