By Valentine Amanze
Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has called on the Federal
Government of Nigeria to permanently stop the killings in Benue State by the herdsmen.
He said, “What is happening in Benue and other middle-belt
states is more than a strive between herdsmen and local farmers. It
has gotten to the level of terrorism and ethnic cleansing.
“Just now, we heard the news of the herdsmen attacking the camp of Mobile policemen, Mopol 13 in Benue, killing two officers by slitting their throats. Do you call people who could invade the camp of mobile
policemen in a gorilla manner and overpower armed Mopol mere Fulani
herdsmen?”
Fayose, who sympathised with the government and people of
Benue State for the murder of 59 people last week, advised President
Muhammadu Buhari to stop what he described as
an attempt to wipe the Agatu and Tiv people of Benue State off the face of the earth.
According to a statement on Tuesday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the Ekiti State governor also berated the likes of former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, for
keeping silent while thousands of Nigerians were being killed by
herdsmen.
His words: “Nigerians are gradually beginning to see these killings as a case of hand of Esau, voice of Jacob. It is man inhumanity to man, clear cruelty and unacceptable.”
The governor, who said all men of good conscience in the country should
rise in condemnation of the nonchalant attitude of the Federal
Government on the herdsmen criminal activities, added, “What is
happening in Benue and other states in the North-central is an issue that the President Buhari must have to take decisive steps. We never
had killings like these under previous administrations. It is one killing too many!”
Fayose said that no one could deny that the Fulani herdsmen
have become a nightmare to Nigerians.
He said, “On the Global Terrorism Index, Fulani militant group
(herdsmen) operating in Nigeria and parts of the Central African Republic is the fourth deadliest known terrorist group.
“A group declared as the fourth deadliest terrorist group in the world as far back as 2015 cannot be handled with levity by the federal
government as being done presently and the earlier President Buhari is made to realize that his main duty is protect the lives of all Nigerians, the better.
“Most importantly, the silence of the people does not amount to their
inability to defend themselves. And it should be known to the powers that be that everybody in Nigeria has rights to life.
“Taking lives cheaply and brazenly as being done by the herdsmen is the height of evil which no responsible government should allow. The
federal government must have to take decisive steps to end this pogrom and stop playing to the gallery.
“As it is, police do not have capacity to handle the situation in
Benue and we will not be surprised if the herdsmen begin to move from
one state to the other to cause further havoc because they are getting away with murder daily. Therefore, the federal government needs to do
more; otherwise, Nigerians will begin to see the herdsmen as the APC hit group.”