A group, the Benue Advocacy Network, BAN, has blamed the state governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, for his lacklustre commitment to stemming the spiralling insecurity in the state.
The group made this statement on Friday during a press conference addressed by their leader, Enoch Bemshima Ortese, in Makurdi.
He outrightly condemned the Benue governor’s outing during Thursday’s media chat with TVC, at the Government House, Makurdi.
Ortese stated that Governor Alia had deliberately refused to address the spate of insecurity perpetrated by armed Fulani herdsmen, which has led to constant attacks on Benue communities, resulting in thousands being killed and numerous communities being occupied by armed pastoralists.
According to him: “Gov. Alia was deliberately silent on the occupation of Benue communities by Fulani terrorists who have been deciding when and where the people can move.
“Even when Governor Alia reluctantly mentioned the critical issue of insecurity, which is currently affecting about 19 out of the 23 local governments in Benue State, he merely rationalised and defended the nomadic cattle herders by making inappropriate references to the ECOWAS Protocol, claiming it provides legal protection for pastoralists to move freely in and out of territories. As he has often done, the governor described the issue of insecurity as ‘skirmishes.’
“His false claims prompted an erudite son of Benue State, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Professor Sebastine Hon, to issue a statement correcting the wrong impression created by Governor Alia’s comments regarding the transhumance of livestock within ECOWAS member countries. We refer the governor to Prof. Hon’s patriotic article, which is in the public domain.
“It would have been interesting to hear Governor Alia provide reasons for the abandonment of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of 2017, which was enacted by the previous government with the support of the Benue people.
“This law was very effective in tackling the herdsmen menace until the current government took office.”;
The group also frowned upon the continuous corruption allegations levelled against his predecessor, Samuel Ortom, noting that the Alia administration had constituted two panels to probe the Ortom-led administration. They urged him to publish the probe panels’ reports that allegedly indict Ortom’s government.
Ortese said: “Governor Alia has set probe panels against the previous government, so we expect his probe panels to publish their reports to support the accusations he has been making against the immediate past government.
“The Alia administration has not informed the people of Benue that since May 2023, when President Tinubu approved the removal of the fuel subsidy, Benue, like other states, has been receiving federal allocations four times higher than those received by the previous government.
“The current government should stop sounding as if it brought some magic wand to pay salaries promptly.
“No state in the country today owes salaries, pensions and gratuities. Before the Alia administration took over, 28 states in the country could not pay salaries because meagre resources at their disposal did not permit them to do so.
“The reverse is the case today with the Tinubu money windfall. All other states have since cleared the arrears of salaries, pensions, and gratuities, except Benue State.”;
