The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore has approached the International Criminal Court of Justice in the Hague, to file a suit against Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, for seizing over 25,000 cows belonging to members of the group and detaining over 4,000 herders.
This was disclosed by the National Secretary -General of the Fulani socio-cultural group, Mr Saleh Alhassan, according to media reports in Nigeria on Saturday. The Punch reported that Miyetti Allah says that the Governor will face justice for “violating the rights of Fulani herders” in his state.
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Governor Ortom of Benue State early in the month, inaugurated the state’s Community Volunteer Guards, to help protect the Benue people. Benue State has seen a very high number of attacks and killing by gunmen, most of whom are alleged to be Fulani herders.
At the inauguration, Ortom said that he had secured conviction of over 400 Fulani herders “besieging” the State.
“We have secured the conviction of over 400 Fulani herders, who have besieged the state. We have seized over 25,000 cows. We released some of the cows to the owners who paid fines and auctioned the cattle of those who did not pay because that is what the law says to ensure that we protect our lands,” the Governor said.
In reaction to what Governor Ortom said, Alhassan said that he (the Governor) was known for always “abducting and keeping” cows belonging to Fulani herders, according to the Punch report.
He accussed Ortom of going to Benue and Taraba states border communities to seize cows, thereby making their members suffer and went further to claim that Miyetti Allah does not have hereders in Benue.
“He is destroying the economy of our people in the border states. We have raised that issue, prepared our documents and sued him before the International Criminal Court in Hague.
“We sued him for stealing our cattle in Nasarawa and Taraba border communities and for also detaining our innocent youths and dumping them in his dungeon because he is a governor.
“He is not arresting herders for violating anti-open grazing law because there are no herders in Benue. The law which he assented to in his state Assembly stated that for a herder to function, there must be a ranch.
“Ortom has failed to provide a ranch for us. Let him finish all this wickedness. He will still leave and the herders in Nigeria will continue to exist, prosper and be better,” he said.
On 4th August, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state Thursday inaugurated the first batch of a 500-Man Benue State Community Volunteer Guards, BSCVG, to complement efforts of conventional security agencies in the state saying Nigeria’s security architecture is gasping for breath.
At the passing out parade of the operatives in Makurdi, the Governor lamented that from 2011 till date over 5,000 Benue indigenes were murdered in recurrent attacks by armed herdsmen which left over 1.5million persons displaced.
Giving reasons for setting up the guards the Governor noted that “Nigeria’s security architecture is gasping for breath as nobody is safe anymore. The worsening insecurity in the country has complicated Benue State’s security situation as other forms of criminality have started creeping in due to the Federal Government’s refusal to decisively address insecurity.
He went further to add that given the fact that the Federal Government has consistently failed to disarm the Fulani terrorists who have continued to maim and kill our people at will, the State Government will apply for a license to legally procure AK47, AK49 and other sophisticated weapons for the Benue State Volunteers Guards to enable them tackle these murderous terrorists effectively.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
