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Hold FG responsible if Ortom is assassinated – Wike
By Rasaq Adebayo
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has said the Federal Government should be held responsible if Governor Ortom of Benue State is assassinated.
Wike said this while reacting to the attack on the governor’s convoy by gunmen on Saturday.
Governor Ortom was attacked by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herders along the Tyo-Mu-Abetse-Gboko Road, in Makurdi Local Council of the state.
The Governor who was returning from a farm inspection in the area, saw militia herders, numbering over 15 and dressed in black attire, ambushing his convoy and opened fire on them.
“I thank God for my security men who repelled the attackers. I ran for more than one and a half kilometres without stopping,” the governor recounted.
The attack came few days after the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore met in Yola, Adamawa State, and allegedly singled him out as a thorn in their flesh, who must be eliminated.
The governor alleged that he had received intelligence to that effect.
Ortom, who vowed never to be intimidated despite the attack, insisted that he would not repeal the Benue law on ranching.
“My life is in the hands of God and no Fulani militia has the power to take it without His permission… I am sending a petition to the President and the security chiefs against Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, as allowing their leaders to walk freely with security personnel attached to them is not in the country’s best interest,” said.
A statement by the Special Assistant (Media) to the Governor, Kelvin Ebiri, quoted Wike in his reaction to the attack as stressing that if the Benue State governor is killed, the country could be plunged into another civil war, and there will be “no more Nigeria.”
“If you kill Ortom, then be prepared to bury Nigeria. If anything happens to Governor Ortom, the Federal Government will be held responsible and they should be prepared that there will be no more Nigeria.”
