Killing of soldier: Ortom asks youths to defend Benue

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State yesterday asked youths to defend their fatherland against continuous attacks which led to the fresh killing of a soldier.

Ortom disclosed that the soldier was killed on Monday in Guma local government area by suspected herders who allegedly engaged security men in a gun duel as the soldiers tried to repel them from attacking villages.

He spoke at Naka, the council headquarters of Gwer West local government area when he visited to condole with bereaved families following last week attack by bandits on Agaigbe District which left a total of 24 people killed after death toll rose from initial 10 confirmed by the police.

“Yesterday (Monday), a soldier was also killed by suspected herders in Guma. These killings would not be allowed to continue. The youths must rise up to support security agencies. David in the Bible used stone to bring down Goliath. There are stones all over the place for the youths to defend themselves. These killings are enough and we will no longer take it,” he said.

The governor warned those behind the killings in the state to desist as the grazing law could not be repealed because it was the best solution for peaceful habitation between farmers and herders.

Earlier, the traditional head of Gwer West, Chief Daniel Abomtse, said he had lost a total of 212 people to suspected herders’ attacks between 2011 and 2018, including the latest killings of 24 rural dwellers in his domain.

Meanwhile, some villagers with green leaves blocked the road at Adaka village, a suburb of Makurdi while the governor’s convoy was returning from Naka. They told him that four people, including an Idoma woman, was kidnapped along the route few hours after the convoy passed that way.

The protesters added that two other people on motorbike were machete about the same time and had been taken to the hospital for treatment.