Buhari to Benue leaders: Encourage harmony between farmers, herders
President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the people of Benue State to apply more restraint and continue to live peacefully together with other residents.
Buhari made the appeal yesterday in Makurdi at a stakeholders meeting during his visit to the state, urging leaders of various groups to go back to their various constituencies and build peaceful co-existence.
“It behooves on us as leaders to keep encouraging people to continue to live together peacefully. Why did God put us together? I have friends from here and there is no way I can deliberately overlook security issues happening here or elsewhere in the country. I’m doing my best,” he said.
Responding to an accusation raised against the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, he said he was not aware that the police chief disobeyed his directive to proceed immediately to Benue State in the wake of killings on New Year day by suspected herders.
Earlier, Governor Samuel Ortom appealed to the president to upgrade the military exercise, Cat Race, to an Operation so that they would effectively secure the deserted rural areas to enable over 170, 000 displaced people return to their homes.
The governor who asked the federal government to support the state’s anti-grazing law, said apart from the 73 slain victims buried on January 11 this year, 65 more people had been killed in Guma and Logo while 26 more were killed in Okpokwu with over 5000 displaced in Mbatoho community of Makurdi local government area.
The president who on his arrival at the Makurdi airport proceeded to a meeting with major stakeholders at the Government House which commenced exactly 11:18am and ended 1:41pm, immediately returned to Abuja.
But complaints trailed his departure, as people who had expected him to proffer solutions to insecurity concerns by making definite statements on matters raised at the stakeholders meeting expressed disappointment that the president never reacted to the ‘crux of the matter.’
A coordinator of a nongovernmental organisation, Jireh Doo Foundation, Ms Josephine Habba, said, “I’m not just disappointed but confused. He didn’t console the people of Benue or condemn the killings, nor did he say anything about our grazing law.”
Barr. Amali Amali, the National President of Idoma National Forum, said, “The visit only afforded us opportunity to bare our minds. We were able to let him know that we stand by our anti-open grazing law as the only solution to the crisis. We spoke our minds about the IGP. Otherwise he didn’t say anything for us to take home because he wanted to be careful. I won’t say I am disappointed about him coming at all.”
On his part, the PresidentGeneral of Tiv Youth Organisation (TYO), Timothy Hembaor, said, “The visit was a sham, apart from being belated... He didn’t take a stand for the law nor visit any IDPs camp.”