Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom, says rampaging Fulani herdsmen have overrun the middle belt state as the killing of its people continues unabated.
He said residents of many local government areas in the state are living in fear and are at the mercy of the murderous herdsmen.
Speaking during an interview on Arise TV on Friday, Ortom disclosed that eighteen out of Benue’s 23 local government areas are under the siege of killer Fulani herdsmen.
“Now they are on a killing spree. Every day we have reports of killings and so on,” Ortom said while shedding light on the killings of over 45 persons in some communities in the state.
The Benue governor, in the interview, lamented how insecurity had displaced over two million people in the state and disrupted agricultural activities.
“As I talk to you, 18 local governments out of the 23 local governments we have in Benue state today are under siege by these terrorists Fulani herdsmen,” Mr Ortom stated.
The governor pointed out that “since the PDP lost (the March 18 governorship) election and I lost my senatorial bid, Fulani herdsmen have now taken over the state.”
“The report you heard from Umogidi is just one of them. In my own village and other parts of the state, like I said, 18 local governments are under siege. Killings have been going on every day,” Ortom, a former APC governor, stated. “They feed on people’s farms, and they said they have taken over (and) that they will repeal the anti-grazing law.”
On Monday evening, suspected herdsmen attacked Benue communities, killing at least 45 locals.