Gov. Samuel Ioraernyi Ortom Saturday called on youth in the Sankera axis of Zone A Senatorial District of Benue State to renounce and denounce armed banditry, kidnapping and other terrorist acts that have made his administration to imposed a curfew in Katsina Ala and Ukum Local Government Areas.
He made the call in a funeral oration of Late Elder Othaniel Nyiekaa Akume 1942-2021) at Ugba, the headquarters of Logo Local Government Area.
The governor went down memory lane and stated that the late O. N. Akume was the returning officer during his election as the Chairman of Guma Local Council. Represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Hon. Timothy Aondona Ijiir. The governor told the family and sympathizers that he would consider nominating someone from the immediate Ugba Gwar lineage or from Logo L. G. A after due consultation with the Commissioner for Justice.
‘O. N. Akume was a forthright person who use his life time preaching Jesus Christ in season and out of season’, he extolled the deceased.
Also speaking, His Royal Highness, Chief Abu King Shuluwa, Tor Sankera I, urged Logo indigenes to take solace in the Lord Jesus Christ. He added that: ‘As the First Class Chief of Sankera, I am calling on you to dissociate from criminal elements from your two brothers (of Katsina Ala and Ukum LGAs) where the banned on okada is enforced’.
‘I think you should also experiment a ban on okada operations to forestall snowballing of banditry and kidnapping into Logo because most of them have fleed into your communities’, he stated further.
His counsel was widely rejected by the mamouth crowd of family, friends and sympathizers of the Akume Ugba Gwar lineage.
Responding, Hon. Terseer Agber, the Executive Chairman, Logo L. G. A. refuted the inference that Logo is harbouring unscrupulous minds saying: ‘Logo is God fearing and peaceful’. “We are not party and shall not be partners in any crime’, he stressed. His response was torrendously applauded.
Ugba, the headquarters of Logo Local Government Area stood still as the remains of the first indigenous Training Secretary (TS) of the Fellowship of Christian Students (F. C. S.) and National Coordinator of the Universal Reformed Christian Church (URCC) also known as NKST Mission Retreat (NMR) were laid to rest.
Economic, religious and political activities came to a halt as program of events leading to the burial of Othaniel Nyiekaa Akume Ugba were being conducted.
Elder Akume was a board member of the Benue State Judiciary and that of the F. C. S. Nigeria. He has evangelised Jesus Christ around the country especially Benue State using the vehicles of NMR, F. C. S, Great Commission, Boys Brigade (B. B.) and other evangelistic platforms. He was known for his transparency and honesty in handling resources irrespective of individual, corporate or any kind of ownership. He was indeed, a leader per excellent Akume Ugba Gwar, of Ugondo in Logo Area of Benue State.
Meanwhile, the town was saturated with security operatives of the special forces who positioned themselves round town but with heavy presence at the venue of the funeral rites and burial.
It is no longer news that Sankera has been engulfed with all kinds of criminality before and after Terwase Akwaza alias Gana was killed in suspicious circumstances that many believed was a sold out by the political elites in the area.
