By Amos Aar
BENUE State governor, Samuel Ortom, says he is ready and poised to meet the leadership of Fulani social cultural organisation, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague where a suit is said to have been filed against him for reportedly seizing over 25,000 cows belonging to its members and detaining over 4,000 herders.
Governor Ortom bared his mind over the weekend in a statement through his Chief Press Secretary, Nathaniel Ikyur, in reaction to a statement attributed to the National Secretary of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Alhassan Saleh, that they have approached the ICC in The Hague to file a suit against the governor for allegedly violating the rights of Fulani herders in Benue State.
The Punch newspaper reported that Mr Saleh had capitalised on Governor Ortom’s recent address in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, during his inauguration of Benue State Volunteer Guards, a complementary security outfit, that his administration has “secured the conviction of over 400 Fulani herders, who have besieged the state”, adding that over 25,000 cows have been seized while some of the cows have been released to the owners who paid fines.
The Punch quoted the Miyetti Allah National Secretary as saying: “He (Ortom) would go to Benue and Taraba states border communities and seize cows, making our members suffer. We don’t have herders in Benue. So, the livestock that he seized shows that he is part of the problem.”
But Ortom described the allegation of impounding cows from the neighbouring states of Taraba and Nasarawa as “laughable”, insisting that the state government knows the boundaries between Benue and other states and so the livestock guards do not go outside of the state’s boundary to arrest herds of cattle that violate Benue State laws.
“Tell Miyetti Allah and all its leadership that I am ready to meet them in court, anywhere. Let those who are threatening to take me to court understand that every law is meant to be obeyed. For the avoidance of doubts, the Benue people agreed for the law to be implemented. We are therefore enforcing the law. And anybody willing to do business in the state must abide by the law. I have done what is right and legitimate to protect my people from further killings. That is what constitutional democracy demands”, Ortom maintained.
He added: “Instead of Miyetti Allah directing their members who wish to live and do business in Benue State to abide by the law, they have continued to sponsor acts of terror against Benue people, killing and destroying properties worth billions of naira. As we speak, there are over 2 million of our Benue people living as refugees in IDP camps.”
Ortom also stated that his administration is also taking steps towards getting compensation from Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore for the damages the Fulani herdsmen have allegedly caused Benue people.
“The state government has also compiled the atrocities of Fulani terrorists against Benue people and we are also demanding compensation from Miyetti Allah for their atrocious activities in Benue State which have led to the killing of over 5,000 of my people, sacking of various communities, destruction of property worth billions of naira and displacement of over 2 million people by these herdsmen. Make no mistake about this, I will continue to defend my people from this premeditated annihilation. The law is made to be obeyed. No compromise,” Ortom said.
Although National Record‘s efforts to speak with the zonal Chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Alhaji Danladi Chiroma, and the MACBAN Secretary in Benue State, Ibrahim Galma, to confirm if the Fulanis no longer graze cattle in the state as claimed by Alhassan Saleh failed as Chiroma did not pick phone calls while Galma’s two lines were not available.
However, a Fulani man resident in Makurdi, who pleaded not be mentioned, said his people still have cattle in Benue contrary to the Miyetti Allah National Secretary’s claim.
While some Benue people have condemned Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore’s legal action against Ortom, some alleged that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP’s) 2023 presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is fighting against the governor for allegedly not supporting his presidential candidacy.
National Record learnt that these reactions were predicated on political party differences especially those from the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is regarded in Benue as a Fulani political party, and the PDP considered to be an anti-cow party.
Aware of the blame game and the politicisation of issues by members of both the PDP and APC in Benue State, a Makurdi-based journalist, Timothy Atoza, in his Facebook post Sunday morning analysed the reported suit against Ortom that “it’s another goal for PDP in Benue State ahead of 2023 general elections. Fulanis are the major problem of APC in Benue State”.
PDP State Publicity Secretary, Bemgba Iortyom, on his Facebook account on Saturday evening had commented: “If Miyetti Allah weren’t reasoning like cows, they would have sued Benue, not Ortom, because it’s the state that seized their cows.”
Comrade James Ornguga, APC State Organising Secretary, on his part commented on his Facebook wall on Sunday morning thus: “Miyetti Allah Taking Ortom to ICC, I suspect Atiku is fighting Ortom Behind the scene.”
