Ojimaojo Yunus Abuja
Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has flayed Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, over comments against the fulani herdsmen.
The forum condemned the state of siege and insecurity under which Nigerians have lived in the last few years, adding that the North in particular, rogue Fulani elements have stood out as killers, bandits and kidnappers.
The Forum in a statement by its Director, Publicity and Advocacy, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, on Wednesday urged Ortom to live up to his oath and his commitment to his mandate to live as a responsible leader of his people.
According to him, “Northern Elders Forum, like other Nigerians, watched the video in which Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom speaks in a manner and language totally unbecoming of a leader, at a time when standards of responsibility and decorum should be at their highest levels.
“Even while making allowances for the established patterns of rhetorics and practice of Governor Ortom on inter-communal relations, this latest outburst should be condemned in a most emphatic manner,” it said.
It further demanded that killers of villagers in Benue State and other citizens in other villages in many parts of the North must be traced and prosecuted.
The forum also noted that the context of a politicised environment does not excuse this latest demeaning outing of Governor Ortom. On the contrary, it diverts attention from the latest tragedy that has befallen citizens and families in Benue State.
While speaking on 2023 general election, they said they “will contInue to demand that those who are asking for our votes in 2023 show in clear and specific terms how they plan to re-secure all Nigerians.
“They must also demonstrate how they intend to address damaging profiling and deliberate exploitation of passions eminently demonstrated by Governor Ortom.
“He should avoid the temptation to play to a gallery which, like all Nigerians, is desperate for relief and an end to the killings which pitch them against each other and leads them towards unending conflicts.”
