Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom, and Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) have traded words on a call for declaration of the group as a terrorist organisation.
Hours after the federal government had gazetted and declared bandits as terrorists, the Benue state governor asked the Federal government to also declare MACBAN a terrorist group.
Reacting to Ortom’s call, Baba Ngelzarma, national secretary of MACBAN, described Ortom’s request as “unpatriotic”. He stated that Ortom’s hatred for the Fulani “was not in doubt”, adding that “he has proved beyond reasonable doubt that he is an unreliable leader.”
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“We are not at all surprised at the recent call by Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue State for the proscription of our association (MACBAN) going by his antecedents, whose stock in trade is fanning the embers of hatred between peaceful Nigerians that have been living in peace for many centuries,” he said in a statement.
”We, therefore, call on the federal government to ignore this unpatriotic call by a wayward governor who is hell-bent on putting this country into unnecessary crisis.
MACBAN is not and will never be a terrorist organisation.
”We are fully registered with the regulatory agencies with clear vision and mission to foster peaceful coexistence to our teeming members as well as serving humanity positively.”he said.
Ortom’s stance
Ortom, in a statement by Nathaniel Ikyur, his Chief Press Secretary (CPS) on Thursday, January 6, 2022, said Miyetti Allah has vowed to continue causing mayhem in Benue because of the state’s anti-grazing law.
The statement reads: “Though the federal government’s measures on bandits now seems strong, the security challenges will only be adequately addressed if similar hard position is taken on Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, MACBAN, and the Fulani Nationality Movement (FUNAM) who have vowed and continued to cause mayhem in Benue State and other parts of the country because of the anti-grazing laws.
“For us in Benue State, the law has come to stay. It is irrevocable. In fact, we have maintained our position that Benue State has no grazing routes, reserves or areas so whatever.
“It was enacted in good faith for peace and order in the state. It was done among other things to end the incessant farmers/herdsmen clashes in the state.
“Nigerians have absorbed enough hunger and misery in the hands of the All Progressives Congress (APC) misrule. Or is it possible that Mr. President is not aware that Nigerians are dying from his misrule?”
