Benue killings: Ortom’s Muslim appointees fault JNI comment

Muslim appointees in the administration of Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom have faulted a comment credited to the Jama’atul Nasir Islam (JNI) accusing the governor of linking the unrest in the state to the continuation of the late Usman Dan Fodio’s jihad.

The JNI warned Ortom not to take Nigerian Muslims for granted by denigrating the Muslim community.

But Ortom’s Muslim appointees disagreed with the statement as well as urging the public to disregard same as it does not reflect the reality on ground, neither does it present the true relationship between the governor and the Muslim community in the state.

Speaking on behalf of the appointees at news conference in Makurdi, the Special Adviser on Project Monitoring and Evaluation, Alhaji Isa Usman, said the governor does not hate Muslims and cannot speak against them.

“For the purpose of clarity and all sense of humility to our Sultan who is the leader of Muslims community in the country, Governor Ortom does not hate Nigeria Muslims and can never speak derogatory against Islam,” he said.

Usman noted that despite the persistent attacks on Benue communities by armed bandits suspected to be herders, there are no fracas between Christians and Muslims in the state as he stressed that the statement made by the JNI Secretary General, Dr. Abubakar Khalid Aliyu, could be regarded as unnecessary and unreasonable.