Ex-Governor Ortom Denies Responsibility for Benue Insecurity, Blames Withheld Funds

• Former Benue Governor Ortom denies responsibility for the state’s insecurity, attributing issues to withheld financial assistance.

• Ortom highlighted his efforts against the herdsmen crisis, including enacting the anti-open grazing law.

• Ortom criticized his successor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, for making unsubstantiated allegations and emphasized his sacrifices to protect the state.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that the immediate past governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, has stated that he is not responsible for the insecurity situation in the state. He lamented that during his tenure, some financial assistance intended to address the state’s needs was withheld.

Ortom made these remarks in response to allegations from his successor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, who accused his administration of contributing to the insecurity that plagued the state.

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In a statement issued on Sunday by his media aide, Terver Akase, Ortom emphasized that he sacrificed his future political ambitions to ensure the state was not overrun by its enemies.

He asserted that he was the first governor in Benue to confront the herdsmen crisis by enacting an anti-open grazing law. He also noted that, under his administration, there were no incidents of youths engaging in cattle rustling or violence against their own people.

The statement read in part: “We find these allegations not only unfortunate but disturbing. Raising such serious claims without providing evidence sends the wrong signal to the rest of the country. Benue people are known for their hospitality and peace-loving nature.

“It is an indisputable fact that His Excellency Ortom was the first Benue governor to confront the threat of armed herdsmen attacks on the people of Benue, a problem that existed before his administration.

“Governor Ortom was the first to enact a law to end open grazing of livestock across the state and to promote ranching as the global best practice in animal husbandry.”

“In his eight years as governor, Chief Ortom never accused Benue youths of being cattle rustlers and killers of their people.

”Instead, he encouraged youths of the state to aspire to achieve their dreams, and his administration engaged young people who were willing to complement conventional security agencies as members of the state Community Volunteer Guards.

“The Livestock Guards whom his administration had earlier established as the enforcement agency of the law on anti-open grazing were also made up of hard-working and patriotic Benue youths who, for six years, did a commendable job.

“It is equally imperative to state that Governor Ortom never requested funds from the Federal Government or anyone else regarding the security situation in his state.

“Instead, he made huge sacrifices and put his political career on the line to ensure that enemies of the state did not succeed in taking over the land that they had always wanted to occupy.

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“In the process, he was vilified, victimised and the state government was denied several entitlements including funds from bonds, Stamp Duty, SURE-P, and Signature Bonus, among other funds that the state legitimately deserved to benefit.”

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