Buhari’s Visit To Nasarawa: Benue Is The Place To Visit – Suswam
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Loading ...From Scholastica Joseph, Makurdi
Former Governor of Benue State, Dr. Gabriel Suswam has condemned the inability of President Muhammadu Buhari to visit Benue State since the attack by herdsmen which claimed the lives of 73 and many other innocent people in the state.
Suswam stated this in a chat with newsmen when Rivers State Governor, Nyeson Wike stopped over at his Makurdi residence after a condolence visit on Governor Samuel Ortom.
Suswam who was reacting to the recent visit of President Buhari to Nasarawa State said the President should have visited Benue first to commiserate with the government and people of the state over the loss of many innocent lives but he didn’t do that.
“I am not in a position to comment on his visit (to Nasarawa) because I’m not in his party. Secondly, I know that as a President, he must have had his programme outlined for the year but that not withstanding, the Benue case is an emergency.
“One would expect that Benue is the place to visit having lost 73 People and many others in an attack recently. One would expect that (Buhari) would have been more concerned about visiting such area. One would expect that a responsive government would have visited Benue to condole with the people over the gruesome murder of innocent lives”.
“But I’m happy the President has reacted by asking that the perpetrators of the killings be arrested. I think he reacted as a result of the national condemnation of the killings. It’s not good for a country to experience loss of lives like that,” he said.
The former governor who condemned the Benue killings disclosed that he had already sent a condolence message to Governor Ortom urging him to convey a meeting with stakeholders across party lines to find a lasting solution to the incessant invasion and killings by herdsmen in the state.
He commended Governor Wike for visiting to commiserate with the state government and Benue people over the killings describing his gesture as an act of brotherliness.
Asked if he would be ready to accept Governor Samuel Ortom into the PDP fold should he decide to return to the party, the former Governor said, “I’m not the National Chairman or a member of the National Working Committee of the PDP.
“That should be left for the National Working Committee of the party to decide. But the fact is that the fence remains very low so that anyone who wants to come in can easily do that. The good thing is that in Nigeria, party affiliation is based on ideology.”
