From Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi
In his avowed commitment to secure lives and properties in Benue State, Governor Samuel Ortom, on Thursday, presented patrol vehicles and motorbikes to members of the Benue State Community Volunteer Guards (BSCVG).
The governor also presented security vehicles to members of the Livestock Guards to enable them to move around the state and enforce the anti-open grazing law of the state.
Recall that Governor Ortom has inaugurated the first and second batches of the BSCVGs with a vow to equip them for optimal performance.
Matching words with action, Ortom distributed a total of 25 security vehicles and 769 motorbikes; 23 vehicles and 460 motorbikes for BSCVGs and 30 motorcycles with two security vehicles for Livestock Guards.
The governor also donated motorcycles to district and clan heads to enable them to access their communities in the discharge of their duties.
Speaking during the presentation in Government House, Makurdi, Ortom said while he still awaits the approval for them to bear sophisticated weapons like the AK-47, he will not rest on his oars to ensure that they are equipped for the tasks ahead.
The governor, who noted that Benue State has been pushed to the wall with persistent attacks on innocent farmers by herdsmen militia, said: “We are not going to sit and fold our hands and allow our people to be killed.
“We are now pushed to the wall. We are not going to beg again. We implore all men to resist being killed.”
He appreciated Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), and Civil Defense, among other, conventional security outfits operating in the state for their contributions to nation-building and equally commended the Volunteers Guards and the Livestock Guards for the hard work and resilience exhibited so far.
He told them that “This is an opportunity to contribute your quota to the security of our land.”
He appealed to the Benue people to support the guards to enable them to succeed in their duties saying recently, they have been able to provide intelligence that aided arrests and elimination of bad eggs in the society
Ortom, who restated the need for the federal government to allow for a state police, said: “Skeptics and pessimists have been trying to blackmail me.”
The Governor urged the guards to continue to be law-abiding adding “Don’t do anything that will portray you as trespassing against the laws of the land
“Do your best in every assignment you are given and observe the rules of your engagement. Ensure implementation of the anti-open grazing law. Anyone doing open grazing should be apprehended.
“Anyone bringing cow into Benue by foot, whatever you see, take it. If you must, find a vehicle and transport your cows. Or ranch your cows. If you ranch your cows and something happens to your ranch, I can sympathize with you but if you disobey the laws you are on your own.
“Since we don’t have AK-47s, we will continue to do the needful so that the lives of our people will be protected.
“Support our guards. Ensure they do their work well. Do not be hostile to them but report any misbehaviour as we have a mechanism for punishment, he said as he expressed the hope that the vehicles will facilitate and help them in their work.