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Governor Ortom Launches Volunteer Guards to Wage War Against Terrorists with AK-47, AK-49
Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has revealed that the unprovoked attacks by terrorists on unarmed people of the state since 2011 have claimed more than 5,000 lives.
Ortom said this on Thursday, during the passing out parade of the first batch of 500 personnel of Benue State Community Volunteer Guards at Makurdi.
Ortom said the worsening insecurity in the country had complicated Benue State’s security situation, saying other forms of criminality had started creeping in due to the federal government’s refusal to decisively address insecurity.
Ortom said it was due to the failure of the federal government that the state government decided to revisit the Benue State Vigilante Law of 2000, which was enacted to complement the conventional security agencies in the state to address emerging security issues.
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He explained that the law had to be amended by his administration to pave the way for the Community Volunteer Guards to assist the conventional security agencies to curb insecurity in the state.
According to the governor, “By the provisions of the new law, the Benue State Community Volunteer Guards can therefore carry legally approved weapons which we have duly provided.”
Ortom maintained that although the campaign of terror had spread across Nigeria, Benue State was specifically targeted because of his, “administration’s insistence on the rule of law rather than the rule of terror and for always standing with my people in their refusal to surrender their land, identity and Judeo-Christian faith and values to the Islamisation agenda,” he said.
According to Ortom “The Benue State Community Volunteer Guards represent our modest attempt to support our communities in their daily struggle to escape the worst of the atrocities of the terrorists Fulani herdsmen.
“As we all witness, the passing-out parade of these able-bodied young men, we believe that security will improve in Benue State.”
The governor also expressed optimism that “The issue of banditry, kidnapping, robbery and most of all, the issue of terrorists Fulani herdsmen attack would be reduced to the barest minimum.”
