Rose Ejembi, Makurdi

Several people, including an investor, have been reportedly injured in a renewed attack by herdsmen on Torkula village, the ancestral home of the late paramount Ruler of the Tiv Nation, HRH Alfred Akawe Torkula, in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.

The Daily Sun gathered that the injured had been evacuated to the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH), in Makurdi, for treatment.

Governor Samuel Ortom, who confirmed the attack, on Monday, while hosting members of Universal Peace Federation of Nigeria, in his office,  maintained that it was as a result of the unending clashes between herdsmen and farmers that the people of the state opted for anti-open grazing law.

“Among the injured is an investor who came around doing mining in Torkula. This is what we are saying. How will development come to places like that when even investors are not safe. Such crisis will drive away investors,” the governor said.

While noting that the herdsmen attacks and killings had nothing to do with the anti-open grazing law, Governor Ortom posited that even in states where the anti-open grazing law was not enacted, many people were still being killed by herdsmen.

“All over the country, killings by herdsmen are going on and nobody wants to take the bull by the horn. There is no going back on this matter. The people of Benue originated the law and they felt it is the best way to end the incessant attacks on farmers by herdsmen.

“Anyone who wants to stay in Benue State must obey the law and whoever does not want to obey the law can go to states where there are cattle colonies. There is no land for grazing in Benue. As we are developing, we must also key into the global best practices of how things are done,” Governor Ortom maintained.