From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has, again, called on the people of the state to defend themselves against any form of attack.
The governor made the call yesterday, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Nathaniel Ikyur, following the gruesome murder of 25 people by suspected herdsmen in three local government areas of the state, on Monday night.
The visibly devastated governor consequently directed his people to rise up to defend themselves, forthwith.
He said: “It is becoming increasingly glaring everyday that my people are now an endangered specie, and so, we can no longer wait for help from anywhere. My people will have to rise up to the occasion to defend themselves and their heritage against the Fulani army of occupation.
“We are law abiding citizens. We have cried for help against these invaders, but nothing is forthcoming. We are left alone and it looks like it is a deliberate strategy. Now we have only one option; to defend ourselves or get extinct. This is a case for our survival.
“We have been accommodating other people in our land, but our hospitality is misconstrued as weakness. We are not a conquered people. We will never be. We are free born citizens of Nigeria,” the governor declared.
The statement added that the governor had already called on security operatives to do more in crime prevention and protection of life and property in the land, just as he urged the people to cooperate with security agencies to flush out the undesirable elements in the society.
“The state government, he said, will not shy away from its commitment to provide welfare and security for the citizens,” the statement concluded.