Benue state government Sunday said it will not take lightly threats by Miyetti Allah Kauta Hore, considering that similar threats earlier made by the group resulted to the killing of 73 persons in the state in 2018.
The national president of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Abdullahi Bodejo, in a statement published in some national dailies on Saturday was reported to have threatened that governors who refused to establish cattle colonies also known as Ruga settlements, will not know peace in their states.
Part of his statement was quoted to have read: “…you are a governor and you want to enjoy peace in your state, you don’t need any long meeting, just create a particular area for the Fulani and equip them with modern amenities”.
Bodejo, in the same media reports was also reported to have singled out Governor Samuel Ortom, accusing him of playing politics with the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law to win sympathy and gain advantage.
He also accused Ortom of killing Fulani pastoralists in Nigeria and demanded that the governor apologized to them.
He further vowed that the Fulani will never allow the Benue state law on ranching to stand.
But reacting in a press statement, Sunday his chief press secretary, Mr Terver , Ortom said threats by the Miyetti Allah only confirmed the fact that “the group is not only responsible for attacks on farming communities in parts of the country but is also determined to reject any method of animal husbandry that does not agree with nomadic cattle breeding and are poised to sponsor violence” in states not willing to donate land for open grazing.
“Utterances such as those of Bodejo are inciting and direct invitation for anarchy. No group should be above the law to be dictating to states on how to accord preference to it at the expense of other Nigerians.
“We call for the arrest and prosecution of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore President for persistently making statements capable of stirring crises in the country,” he said.
On comments against Governor Ortom, he stated that the governor, government and people of Benue, found the statement not only as a real threat to peace but also as prelude to another round of attacks on Benue communities by herdsmen militia.
Akase said it was the same manner the group threatened in May 2017, a few days after Governor Ortom signed the ranching law that they would mobilise their members across West Africa to invade Benue and resist implementation of the legislation.
According to him, the group carried out their threat on the eve of 2018 new year when their armed militia murdered 73 innocent persons, destroyed property worth millions of naira and displaced over 500,000 people in Guma and Logo local government areas.
“As a state, Benue will not take the current threat by Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore lightly. The law of the land is sacrosanct and must be obeyed by everyone. Any individual or group who wants to breed animals in the state should be prepared to ranch them.
“On the ‘order’ given to states by Bodejo to carve out land for grazing reserves/Ruga settlements, we advise the group to exclude Benue from their list as there is no land for open grazing in the state.
“Nigerians irrespective of place of origin and ethnicity who wish to do lawful business in Benue State are encouraged to do so as the Ortom administration is willing to collaborate with investors in different sectors of the economy.
“The governor is equally committed to supporting security agencies to guarantee peace in all parts of the state,” the statement read in part.
