A group of civil society organizations has urged President Bola Tinubu to warn federal politicians who are intensifying the situation in Benue State with the intention of forcing the federal government to declare a state of emergency.
A political power struggle is the cause of the recent surge of killings in the state, according to CSOs operating under the auspices of the Coalition for Civil Society in Nigeria and Advocates of Social Justice.
Additionally, Mohammed Risku, the chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, has disassociated the Fulani herdsmen in the Benue South Senatorial District from the escalating regional tensions brought on by the growing insecurity.
Speaking at a press conference in Makurdi on Sunday, Risku said that his men were being blamed by everyone for the zone’s instability.
The State Secretary, Ibrahim Galma, provided interpretation for the MACBAN chief, who said in his native tongue, “I’m surprised at what is happening these days.” They are claiming that the Fulani have abducted people. In order to establish a peace committee made up of our young people and unite in our battle against banditry, I went to see all of Otukpo’s traditional leaders.
He said “If we join in the fight, I believe that there would be no hiding place for criminal elements. I’m begging the people in Otukpo, including the chairman and all security apparatus, to let us have a peace committee. It would be easy to trace these bad people.”
Speaking to reporters in Abuja, Igwe Ude-Umanta, the coalition’s chief convener, claimed that hell had been unleashed in Benue ever since the Benue State Local Government Election Tribunal ruled in favor of the elected council members from the seven local government areas of Benue North-West Senatorial District, Zone B.
“Every day, there are pockets of killings, and there are rumours of the killings being sponsored by some lawmakers who constitute themselves as enemies of the state”, he said.
“What will the people gain if they continue to lose their loved ones because you want a state of emergency declared in your own state? This must be stopped. Do they think that Nigerians would fold their arms and watch these few elements pull down the country?
“We call on the security agencies to immediately go after the serial killers in Benue State. Street and campus cults are being used while they will blame it on the state governor for failing to provide security, even though they know full well that state governors do not have control over security matters in Nigeria, but the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“These same characters would boldly tell the world that they are supporting Mr President, yet they are bastardising his administration and secretly sponsoring insecurity in Benue State.”
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