Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, says over 492 people have been killed by herdsmen since January 2018.
Speaking at the funeral mass and interment of Mbalom martyrs, Ortorm expressed concern that the number may continue to rise should the Federal Government fail to act decisively to curtail the situation.
The Governor, who noted that sponsors of the killer herdsmen are known to his government, explained that the root cause of the incessant killings is the anti-grazing law.
He said that upon the passage of the anti-grazing bill into law, the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association vowed to unleash terror in the state.
Ortom frowned at the way the Federal Government is treating the Miyetti Allah with kid gloves like they are above the law.
He called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the leadership of the group.
The Benue Governor lamented that since the beginning of 2018, the state has held three mass burials arising from the senseless killings by herdsmen.
He called on the Federal Government to emulate other countries that have embraced animal husbandry as the modern way of ranching.
Governor Ortorm appealed to people of the state not to take laws into their hands.
.newv telegraph