- Seeming unable to bear the pains of having many of his residents killed, Governor Samuel Ortom asked the UN to come to his aide
- Ortom, while hosting officials of the UN, gave a details of the attacks as well as the danger posed to the state and the nation
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state has told the United Nations that his state is one of the most affected in the attacks carried out by Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria.
Ortom said within three years of rampaging Fulani herdsmen attacks in the state, at least 1,878 residents have been killed while 200 are still missing.
While 750 persons are critically injured, over 99,427 households were destroyed, the governor told a visiting country representative of the UN high commissioner on refugees, Edward Kallon, and his team.
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The UN officials paid the governor a visit in Benue state, NAIJ.com understands.
The governor said the danger in the attacks by the herdsmen is that there would be scarcity of food in the state while the security of the nation would be threatened.
“For over a decade, the people of Benue state have noticed the influx of armed herdsmen who have violently attacked many communities in the state.
“Between 2013 and 2016 alone, Fulani herdsmen killed more than 1,878 men, women and children in cold blood from 12 local government areas of Benue state.
“Another 750 were seriously wounded while 200 are missing. Over 99,427 households were affected in Benue State and property worth billions of naira destroyed.
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“In 2014 alone, the destruction recorded across 10 local governments in Benue exceeded N95bn,” he said while urging the UN to support the state for solutions to the issue.
NAIJ.com had earlier reported that Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state said that a law to prohibit open grazing of cattle in his state will soon be enacted.
The governor made this disclosure in Makurdi, Benue state capital on Monday, June 27, at the end of the Town Hall Meeting he held with stakeholders in the three senatorial zones of the state.
According to him, his administration will not surrender Benue state to the invading Fulani herdsmen, despite unending attacks on communities in the state.
Watch this video of the carnage caused by Fulani herdsmen in the southern part of Kaduna state:
