Buhari's Visit Gave Us No Hope - Benue Govt
Three days after President Muhammadu Buhari visited Benue State, the state government has said the visit did not rekindle any hope in the people.
Special Adviser to Governor Samuel Ortom on Media and ICT, Mr Tahaz Agerzua, stated said on Thursday during his appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“We appreciate the visit, but we didn’t get any hope,” he said. “In Benue State, the President did not condole with us.”
“We appreciate that he was able to take his time and come and sit down for several hours to listen to the stakeholders, but he did not sympathise with the families,” the governor’s aide added.
The President’s visit to Benue comes weeks after some communities in Guma and Logo Local Government Areas of the state were attacked by suspected herdsmen.
After conducting a mass burial for at least 70 persons in the wake of the killings, the state government is preparing to bury more victims of the attacks.
Reacting to the recent killings on behalf of Ortom, Agerzua said the people of the state expected the Commander-in-Chief to assure them of chasing the ‘invaders’ from the state.
“What we expected from the President was to give us assurance that the invaders would be chased out; there are presently 170,000 displaced people in eight counts across the state, that is a huge humanitarian crisis.
“We thought that there would be some word of chasing these people so that the displaced can return to their houses,” the governor’s aide said.
He further dismissed claims that the state government had sent the herdsmen parking from the state, in retaliation for the reported killings.
Ortom’s adviser, however, maintained that the status of the grazing law remains the same while the herdsmen are advised to abide by it.
According to him, the move s to avoid cattle from further destroying farm produce that might result in more clashes between the farmers and the herders.
Earlier, President Buhari had during his visit to Benue on Monday, appealed to leaders of various groups in the state to convince their constituents that the Federal Government was doing its best to end the recurring attacks by armed herdsmen in various parts of the country.
On his part, Governor Ortom had asked the President to upgrade Exercise Cat Race to a full military operation to further tackle the farmers-herdsmen crisis.
Special Adviser to Governor Samuel Ortom on Media and ICT, Mr Tahaz Agerzua, stated said on Thursday during his appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“We appreciate the visit, but we didn’t get any hope,” he said. “In Benue State, the President did not condole with us.”
“We appreciate that he was able to take his time and come and sit down for several hours to listen to the stakeholders, but he did not sympathise with the families,” the governor’s aide added.
The President’s visit to Benue comes weeks after some communities in Guma and Logo Local Government Areas of the state were attacked by suspected herdsmen.
After conducting a mass burial for at least 70 persons in the wake of the killings, the state government is preparing to bury more victims of the attacks.
Reacting to the recent killings on behalf of Ortom, Agerzua said the people of the state expected the Commander-in-Chief to assure them of chasing the ‘invaders’ from the state.
“What we expected from the President was to give us assurance that the invaders would be chased out; there are presently 170,000 displaced people in eight counts across the state, that is a huge humanitarian crisis.
“We thought that there would be some word of chasing these people so that the displaced can return to their houses,” the governor’s aide said.
He further dismissed claims that the state government had sent the herdsmen parking from the state, in retaliation for the reported killings.
Ortom’s adviser, however, maintained that the status of the grazing law remains the same while the herdsmen are advised to abide by it.
According to him, the move s to avoid cattle from further destroying farm produce that might result in more clashes between the farmers and the herders.
Earlier, President Buhari had during his visit to Benue on Monday, appealed to leaders of various groups in the state to convince their constituents that the Federal Government was doing its best to end the recurring attacks by armed herdsmen in various parts of the country.
On his part, Governor Ortom had asked the President to upgrade Exercise Cat Race to a full military operation to further tackle the farmers-herdsmen crisis.
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