House of Representatives members from Benue State have accused security personnel of aiding killers in the state, a situation that makes the state governor, Samuel Ortom, helpless.
The federal lawmakers, all members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), also knocked a former governor of the state and minister of special duties, George Akume, of calling for a state of emergency in the state while refusing to raise his voice against the killers who go about their slaughter of humans in the state.
The lawmakers addressed journalists on Wednesday, September 1, warning against the imposition of an emergency rule on Benue and asking security agencies to stop the killings in Benue.
Mark Gbillah, a member representing Gwer East/Gwer West Federal Constituency, said Akume, a former governor of the state, has “never lent his voice to the clarion call for the cessation of incessant killings in Benue”.
He said: “We wish to respond to the issues raised in the press conference by Senator George Akume who has never lent his voice to the clarion call for the cessation of incessant killings in Benue, despite his assumed closeness to the president, rather chose to attack the person of the governor, called for the disbandment of the livestock guards so as to bring further hardship on the displaced people of Benue state with over a million people in IDP camps,” he said.
“The governor, as far as members of this caucus are aware, has called ad infinitum, on the Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government to intervene and arrest the protracted bloodletting in the state, with little or in very many instances, no response from the federal government.”
The lawmakers asked Akume to “retract the call for emergency rule in the state, for the interest of democracy and explore other means of resolving the nagging insecurity in the state”.
They called on the federal government “to urgently redeem her promise of N10 billion to resettle the internally displaced persons in Benue”.
Francis Ottah Agbo, a member representing Ado/Ogbadibo/Okpokwu, said the governor and the state are overwhelmed by insecurity.
He said: “Let’s look for how we will push for the presidency to do the needful in Benue because as it is today Benue is overwhelmed, the governor cannot do more than what he is doing, the salary wage bill is bloated and in fact, the allocation to Benue State is not enough to even pay salaries. That is the truth of the matter. I want us to look at this matter from a very objective point of view.
“As I speak before you, my colleagues are aware, they saw me move a motion in the floor of the house. In one fell swoop, 130 Izzi people in my district were killed by these killer men and how do they go about it? They do that very seamlessly because the security apparatus colludes with them, give them protection. Can Ortom stop them? Ortom cannot stop them.”