Ex Benue Gov. Ortom & Incumbent Alia Throw Tantrums Over Insecurity
The immediate past governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom and his successor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia are exchanging tantrums and accusing each other of exposing the middle belt state to insecurity including the clashes between farmers and herders.
Ortom lost his bid for a seat in the upper chamber of the National Assembly (Senate). And Mr. Alia said that Ortom was good at crying wolf even though he was involved in killing of people who came to the state.
The incumbent governor added that his predecessor would cry to the federal government and asked for more funds which Ortom would end up using for his personal business.
Hyacinth Alia had said, “There is no need for you to go and cry wolf down there when people come and you slaughter them and you go crying to the Federal Government to give you money so that you will come back and take care of business.
“Then there is no need to incite the young people, steal cows, rustle the cows and then come to be settled. There would be a reprisal and when the reprisal comes, lives would be lost.
“So one bad man was in some quarters orchestrating these and was cashing in when people were being buried every day.”
In his own reaction, Ortom said that Alia was raising allegations without providing evidence and that the incumbent was sending a wrong signal to the other Nigerians even though Benue people are peace loving citizens.
He reacted through his spokesperson, Terver Akase in a statement on Sunday.
“We find the above statements not only unfortunate but disturbing. Raising such weighty allegations without providing any proof to support the claims sends a rather wrong signal to the rest of the country. Benue people are known as very hospitable and peace-loving citizens of Nigeria.
“It is an incontestable fact that His Excellency Ortom was the first Benue governor who boldly confronted the monster known as armed herdsmen attacks on Benue people which predated his administration.
“He (Ortom) was the first governor to enact a law not only to end open grazing of livestock in all parts of the state but to also introduce ranching as the global best practice of animal husbandry.
“In his eight years as governor, Chief Ortom never accused Benue youths of being cattle rustlers and killers of their people.
Instead, he encouraged youths of the state to aspire to achieve their dreams, and his administration engaged young people who were willing to complement conventional security agencies as members of the state Community Volunteer Guards.
It added, “It is equally imperative to state that Governor Ortom never requested funds from the Federal Government or anyone else regarding the security situation in his state (Benue).
“Instead, he made huge sacrifices and put his political career on the line to ensure that enemies of the state did not succeed in taking over the land that they had always wanted to occupy.
” In the process, he was vilified, victimised and the state government was denied several entitlements including funds from bonds, Stamp Duty, SURE-P, and Signature Bonus, among other funds that the state legitimately deserved to benefit.”
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