Crime
Benue Governor Ortom Alleges Plan to Hand Over Federal Government to Bandits
By Derrick Bangura
The governor of Benue State in Nigeria’s North-Central region Samuel Ortom accused the Muhammadu Buhari administration of pretending not to notice the unremitting killings of innocent Nigerians. Ortom, who spoke during an interview in Makurdi, also alleged plans by the government to yield power to criminal elements.
Ortom spoke on Wednesday in Makurdi during an interview with reporters at the Benue Peoples House, following the attack on two communities in the state where more than 23 persons were killed in their sleep by militia Fulani herdsmen.” He said, “Enough is enough.”#
Suspected Fulani herdsmen had invaded and killed eight persons in Mbadwem in Guma local government and 16 in Tiortyu, a sprawling settlement in Tarka local government, along Makurdi-Gboko road.
Ortom described the attacks as “unfortunate and the height of impunity.”
He accused Buhari’s APC government of turning a blind eye and paying lip service to the cries of the Benue people, “As the herdsmen continue to invade our communities and kill innocent people.”
The governor recalled how he had alerted Nigerians and the federal government on the murderous activities of the Fulani terrorists for many years, “Yet they didn’t believe me. Now, they are gradually taking over every space in the country. We are now sharing our sovereignty with terrorists.”
Ortom alleged that the plan of the herdsmen and their sponsors was to send the people away from their ancestral homes, take over the lands, and cause confusion in the country so that the forthcoming elections would not hold.
He stated, “I suspect that very soon, some states will be completely taken over by these Fulani men called bandits. I suspect that very soon, even the Presidential Villa will be handed over to them. I suspect strongly that this is their plan and so nobody should deceive me.”
The governor said he was old enough to understand the agenda of the terrorists Fulani against Nigeria because, as he put it, “it is a plan to hand over to these Fulani men who are called bandits so there will be no election.”
He appealed to good spirited Fulani men and those who had the ears of the president to persuade him to stop the evil going on in the country.
Ortom warned that if nothing was done, the people would resort to self-help, which would throw the country into anarchy.
The Anambra State Police Command has foiled a cult initiation ceremony in Nawfia, Njikoka Local Government Area of the state.
Spokesperson for the Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Awka.
According to Ikenga, the operation was carried out by police operatives around 9:30am on June 15, leading to the arrest of six suspects at the scene.
Recovered during the raid were one Jojef pump action gun, two cartridges, and a golden-coloured Lexus SUV with registration number ATN 202 AE. Other items found include two cutlasses, two scissors, a cap bearing the inscription of the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, charms, and substances suspected to be hard drugs.
“They are currently undergoing police interrogation to get more insight into their modus operandi, after which the case will be charged to court on the conclusion of the investigations,” Ikenga stated.
The police spokesperson reassured residents of the command’s unwavering commitment to fighting cultism and other related crimes across the state.
An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, on Wednesday, remanded two persons, Olaitan Fasasi and Kehinde Tobiloba in a correctional facility over alleged attempted murder.
Fasasi, 40, and Tobiloba, 26, whose addresses were not provided, are being charged with conspiracy, attempted murder and membership of a secret society.
The Magistrate, Mr L.A Owolabi, did not take the plea of the defendants for want of jurisdiction.
Owolabi directed the police to forward the case file to the Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
He thereafter adjourned the case until May 31 for mention.
The Prosecutor, Josephine Ikhayere, told the court that the defendants committed the offences at about 5.02p.m on Feb. 15, at Mushin, Lagos.
She said that Fasasi, Tobiloba and others now at large, attempted to commit murder by shooting at a resident, Alfred Ademola.
“They armed themselves with a locally made gun. They belong to Eiye Confraternity, a group proscribed by law,”, she said.
Ikhayere said that the offences contravened Sections 230(1) and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2012.
He said that the actions of the defendants also contravened Section 2(3)(a)(b)(c)(d) of the unlawful societies and Cultism Law of Lagos State Law.
An Area Court in Jos, on Tuesday, sentenced one Jeptha John, to three months imprisonment for stealing a Redmi mobile phone valued at N165, 000.
The judge, Shawomi Bokkos, sentenced the John after he pleaded guilty to the offence.
The judge, however, gave the convict an option to pay N20, 000 fine and N50, 000 restitution to the complainant.
Bokkos said that if the convict defaulted in paying the restitution, three months should be added to his sentence to make it six months imprisonment.
Earlier, the police prosecutor, Insp Monday Dabit, told the court that the case was reported at the B Division Police Station, Jos, on Dec. 1, 2024, by Ms Nerat Danjuma.
He said that the complainant alleged that the defendant trespassed into her house and stole her mobile phone valued at N165, 000.
The prosecutor further told the court that the offence contravened the Plateau State Penal Code, Law of Northern Nigeria.
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