Chief BEMGBA IORTYOM
Iortyom, who is the immediate past Publicity Secretary of PDP in Benue State, disclosed this in a statement he made available to newsmen in Makurdi on Monday – yesterday, March 3 -, explaining that his decision came a few days after gunmen suspected to be herdsmen unleashed mayhem in some communities in Ukum Local Government Area, killing villagers in cold blood.
“In protest against the continuing state of insecurity in Benue State, which is attended by almost daily killings of helpless citizens, mostly peasant farmers, I will go without cutting my hair or combing it.
“The mode of my hairstyle hence should be seen as a mark of my protest and solidarity with the victims and their survivors, and this I will continue to do until the situation is redressed, now or in the future.”
The governorship hopeful lamented that innocent people in Benue State have been at the receiving end of brutal and merciless atrocities by Fulani herdsmen, bandits and terrorists, which has been going on for some time now, with successive state administrations being unable to quell it.
He recalled that the incumbent administration of Governor Hyacinth Alia had promised during the campaigns to end it and resettle displaced persons back to their ancestral lands, lamenting that, so far, he has not been able to fulfill his promise in that regard.
“Open grazing, which had been curtailed to a significant degree during the immediate past administration of Chief Samuel Ortom is back in full form, as armed herders now graze their cattle openly and wherever they choose to, including in homes and on the farms of the locals,” Iortyom agonised.
“The result, predictably, has always been violent conflict resulting in the killings and displacement of the unarmed and defenceless locals from their homes.
“Bandits and terrorists too are having their reign largely unchallenged in their chosen enclaves, running what would rightly be termed as parallel sovereign authority to that of the statutory government.”
He charged Benue people to demand Governor Alia to fulfill his sworn duty to protect their lives and property from terrorists and criminals, saying: “It is very much possible to secure Benue State and safeguard the lives and properties of the people, given the level of resources available to government and the enabling environment for achieving such objective created by the incumbent federal government as is remarkably different and much better than what obtained under the immediate past Buhari regime.”
