Senator Gabriel Suswam's passion for the
protection of his people knows no bound. That passion almost drove him to early
grave in 2014 at Umenger, Guma Local Government of the state where armed Fulani
herdsmen ambushed his convoy and engaged his security details in gun battle
when he went visiting communities raided by the herders in the state.
On that fateful day, the former governor
also visited Uikpam in Mbabai, Guma LGA where the armed herders had killed 28
farmers and destroyed houses.
Exasperated, Suswam had remarked thus: We
are being attacked, our foodstuffs including yam barn and farms burned and
destroyed without anyone coming to our aide. Some of our people were killed and
taken away while some captured and taken alive.”
Today, as senator representing Benue North
East, the former governor is confronted with a worse scenario as more farmers
are falling to the herdsman's dagger in his senatorial constituency.
In Gbeji, Ukum Local Government Area, for
instance, where 36 bodies, including two policemen have so far been recovered
and many more missing after an onslaught by pastoralists last Wednesday, October
19, 2022, the ex-governor expressed dismay with the lackadaisical attitude of
the federal government in the face of mayhem perpetrated by the herders.
Addressing families of victims and other
survivors, Sen Suswam berated the Federal Government for what he described as
its irresponsibility and failure to provide security for citizens.
According to him, "the Federal
Government has failed woefully in the protection of lives and property,"
lamenting that the rising insecurity has exposed the country's nakedness.
The senator who said he had visited Mchia
which is the same radius as Gbeji where 22 persons were murdered and several
others injured two weeks ago, described the incessant killings as highly
unacceptable.
His words: “The Federal Government has gone
to sleep and do not care about the security of the people. These are peasant
farmers whose property has been destroyed and their lives have been
decapitated.
“I commend the bravery and gallantry of our
security agencies but they are overstretched under the circumstance. I cannot
sleep in Abuja while our mothers who farm food that we eat are killed in this
way.”
"So far 36 bodies have been recovered
from this dastardly attack by herdsmen. This is totally unacceptable by all
standards. It is a clear indication that the Federal government has failed in
protection of lives and property of the people that they swore to protect.
"What this means in effect is that
power has been transferred to non-state actors. They are totally in charge now
and as they come to kill people at will and go freely and no person has ever
been arrested," he lamented.
The Senator went on, "How can such a
government say that it is a government? We don't have a government. Because
when you swear to either the bible or the quran that you will protect lives and
property of the people and the people have been consistently killed and no
decisive action has been taken.
"Nothing has been done, no person has
been arrested, it means that we don't have a government."
The Secretary to the State Government, SSG,
Professor Anthony Ijohor, SAN, who represented Governor Samuel Ortom on the
trip, expressed sadness over the unfortunate incident.
He reiterated the stand of the Benue State
Government that since the Federal Government has failed to provide security for
the people, a license should be approved for the State Government to procure
sophisticated weapons for the Community Volunteer Guards to protect the people.
The Governor insisted that the limited
conventional security agencies were overstretched and were unable to provide
adequate protection for people of the state.
"We are standing on our request for
the Federal Government to give us a license for our Volunteer Guards to bear
AK-47 and other sophisticated weapons. The security agencies have been
overstretched, that being the case, our people have to defend themselves,"
he said.
The Governor urged young people to stand
firm and protect their lands, stating that self help is the only option left,
since the present administration at the centre has shown that it is incapable
of providing security for the people.
He sympathized with those who lost loved
ones in the attack on Gbeji and encouraged them not to lose hope no matter the
circumstances, saying the State Government would provide palliatives to offer
succour to the affected persons.
In his remarks, Speaker of Benue State
House of Assembly and PDP Governorship candidate, Engr Titus Uba, who also was
on the senator's entourage, expressed sadness over the unprovoked killings
which he said have gone on for too long without the Federal Government
arresting the situation.
The Speaker insisted that since the Federal
Government is not ready to provide security to stop the Benue killings, the
authorities should grant license to the State Government to procure firearms
for Volunteer Guards to complement conventional agencies in tackling insecurity
in the state.
Uba also advocated the creation of state
police to enable each state of the federation to deal with rising security
challenges.
House of Representatives Member for
Ukum/Logo/Katsina-Ala Federal Constituency, Dr Richard Gbande, State Assembly
Member for Ukum, Thomas Mlanga, Chairman of Ukum Local Government Council,
Derick Kaatyoo as well the Acting Ter Ukum, Chief Utambe Nyagba who also spoke
during the visit, unanimously said, “What has been done to us as a people is
that we have to protect ourselves."
Recall that Gov Ortom, in order to stem the
tide of killings by armed herdsmen promultigated the Open Grazing Prohibition
and Ranches Establishment Law 2017.
In spite of that, the herders have remained
adamant and continued with the killings.
Consequently, the state government constituted
the Benue State Community Volunteer Guards to complement conventional security
agents in the fight against criminality and banditary.
During the inauguration of the second batch
Benue State Community Volunteer Guards, BCVGs, Gov Ortom gave one month
deadline to the federal government to approve his letter to procure AK-47
license for BCVGs, failure which said he should seek
the advice of his people on what to do.
The governor said that he had applied for
approval of AK 47 riffles license but regretted that over three months he was
yet to get response from federal government.
"If there is no reply in the next one
month, I will revert to my people to advise on what to do because the Federal
Government is complicit on the issue of herders’ attacks on the state,” he
said.