At least 22 council wards have been overrun by armed Fulani terrorists in three local government areas of Benue State with scores of residents who fled their homes taking refuge in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.
The local governments affected include Gwer West, Guma and Makurdi.
In Gwer West Local Government Area, eight council wards have been deserted, in Makurdi LGA six council wards have been taken over by the terrorists while in Guma, the homestead of Governor Samuel Ortom, eight council wards have not been spared; thus bringing the total council wards overrun to 22.
The senatorial candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) for Benue North West senatorial district, Hon. Titus Tartenger Zam, who made these startling revelation at a news conference in Makurdi, blamed the recalcitrant attacks and killings in the state on what he called the “faulty implementation of the anti-open grazing law enacted by the state House of Assembly by the Governor Samuel Ortom-led administration.”
Hon. Zam, who, however, described the enactment of the law as a wonderful piece of legislation, noted that it should have been targeted at arresting herdsmen rather than rustling of cows which often triggers reprisal attacks on communities where the cows are confiscated by the Community Volunteer Guards and Livestock Guards.
(New Telegraph)
