“President Buhari Behind Benue Killings”
Loading ...From Msughshima Andrew, Makurdi
The Tiv Youth Organization, TYO, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of being behind the killings of innocent Benue citizens by “his kinsmen” marauding Fulani herdsmen.
The youth organization who made this allegation while speaking on the visit of President Buhari to Benue, last Monday said it has become imperative for the Tiv youths and the entirety of Benue people to bare their minds concerning the visit which they described as a show of shame.
In a press release issued by the youth its President General, Comrade Timothy Hembaor and made available to 247ureports, TYO said it has been properly documented that the Fulani militia who have been properly coordinated and adequately mobilized under the visible support of President Buhari to attack, kill in cold-blood and take over Benue State have been on this deadly mission.
Mr Timothy Hembaor recalled that during the attacks, what could be best described as an ethnic cleansing where thousands of lives were lost, thousands of houses, farms as well as property worth billions of naira destroyed, the President did not bath an eyelid.
247ureports observed that when President Buhari visited Benue State, the people did not come it to enthusiastically, welcome him in the manner they had always done. Hembaor said it was deliberate and meant to register their displeasure for his (Buhari) failure to recognize and identify with Benue state during their hard times but chose to partner with his kinsmen to eliminate the Tiv people and take over Benue State.
Hembaor said their allegation stemmed from several reason which include that President Buhari’s body language on arrival did not show any sign of sympathy for the people he has come to visit.
He observed that upon Mr President’s arrival, the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, alongside several other stakeholders, including the paramount ruler of the Tiv nation, Orchivirigh Prof. James Ortese Ayatse who left his throne and moved to the Benue People’s House to have an interface with the President, in separate remarks, presented the position, feelings and aspirations of the people of Benue to President Buhari in lucid terms, using all data available to clearly paint the picture for the President to understand the gravity of our plight.
“After heartily welcoming the President, addressing him as the father of the nation, Governor Ortom made some humble requests in view of the absence of federal presence in Benue State. The Governor cited the mass burial of over 73 citizens of Benue State on January 11, 2018, occasioned by the Fulani herdsmen attack on January 1, 2018.
“He also revealed that over 63 people have been killed in Guma and Logo Local Government Areas after the mass burial. Also, that a recent attack in Okpokwu Local Government Area claimed over 26 lives. The Governor also revealed that over 170,000 people were displaced from their ancestral dwellings and are presently leaving in IDPs camps.
“But the response from President Buhari is nothing but a confirmation that he is the mastermind of our calamity.
It is very worrying and equally telling that President Buhari saw no reason to console or sympathize with the people of Benue over these gruesome occurrences, a clear indication that he sees everything right with his kinsmen maiming innocent citizens of Benue State.
The youth also observed that President Buhari did not sympathize with the families of the Officers of the Police and Civil Defense who lost their lives in trying to keep peace neither did he respond to Governor Ortom’s plea to take steps to reduce the plight of the displaced people living in IDP camps.
“President Buhari also refused to comment on Governor Ortom’s request that the exercise “AYEM A KPATUMA” be upgraded to a full operation in order to chase away the Fulani invaders so that those displaced can return to their ancestral homes.
TYO also described as Present Buhari’s height of insensitivity his blatant refusal to order for the enforcement of the “Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, 2017”. This is a demonstration that Buhari is against the noble law which is so far the best way to curtailing the herders and farmers’ crisis as it has been proven all over the world, which is now clear that Mr. President is in support of the genocidal attacks on the people of Benue State.”
“President Buhari also refused to condemn the fact that the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, in a “World Press Conference” held on January 30, 2017 in Abuja to oppose the Ranching Law issued threats and invited all herders in West Africa to relocate to Benue in order to reclaim their land which has never been theirs at any point in history.
“Also, President Buhari turned a deaf ear to the threat by Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in a “World Press Conference” that more blood will be shed should the Ranching Law not be rescinded. One would expect that a concerned President who values the lives of the citizens he is ruling will order for the immediate arrest of the issuers of such threats, let alone, those that issued threats and carried them out.
The TYO president said these footprints were not those of a patriotic President who desires to provide security for his subjects but those of a sectional leader who is bent on destroying the same people who massively voted him into power.
The Tiv youths called on all well-meaning Nigerians to rise up, mobilize and collectively resist President Buhari and his militia kinsmen who are bent on destroying the country for the betterment of future Nigerians.
