Police arrive Benue to probe attempt on Ortom’s life

Attack plot to destroy state’s economy, says BECCIMA

ASPECIAL task force set up by the Inspector- General of Police ( IGP) Mohammed Adamu has arrived Makurdi, Benue State, in continuation of ongoing investigation into the attempted murder of Governor Samuel Ortom.

The Force Public Relations Officer ( FPRO), Frank Mba, issued a statement to this effect in Abuja yesterday.

Adamu had ordered extensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the attack and attempt on Ortom’s life at his farm in the outskirts of Makurdi on Saturday, March 20, 2021.

The statement indicated that the team, led by DCP Abba Kyari, consists operatives from the Technical Intelligence Unit ( TIU) of the Force Intelligence Bureau ( FIB) and other experienced crack detectives with specialised competencies in crime scene investigation and reconstruction, ballistics, fingerprint analysis and other core areas of forensics. He said: “The team is expected to take over and consolidate all on- going investigations into the incident. It is expected to investigate all angles of the reported attack to ensure that all persons empirically linked to the incident are apprehended and brought to book.”

The statement also quoted the IGP as charging the team to be professional, thorough and clinical in its investigations.

THE Benue business community has described the attack on Ortom in his farm as a grand plan to destroy the economy of Benue, which is agro- based.

President of Benue State Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture ( BECCIMA), Dr. Paul Ubwa, stated at the weekend that the attack was aimed at decimating the collective heritage of Benue as the Food Basket of the Nation.

His words: “The attack, which was carried out while the governor was inspecting his farm at Tyo- Mu area near Makurdi, came at the onset of the rainy season, when farmers are getting ready to return to their farms. It may well be an attempt to strike fear in, and discourage, those that are still in the villages from going to their farms.

“So, in my capacity as leader of the Organised Private Sector in the state, I condemn this brazen attempt to destroy the state’s economy and deprive Benue’s hard working people of their livelihood.”

The BECCIMA president recalled that thousands of Benue farmers were driven from their homes and their farms destroyed by herdsmen.