Declare armed herdsmen terrorists, Ortom tells FG

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State on Saturday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare armed herdsmen killing innocent people in rural communities of the state as terrorists.

Ortom said the call on the Federal Government became necessary following repeated alleged herders’ attacks on different communities of the state in the last couple of months.

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The governor in a statement by his Spokesman, Terver Akase, indicated that the latest of such attacks took place on Friday night at Tse-Chembe community near Anyiin in Logo Local Government Area where the herders allegedly murdered seven persons in cold blood and left many others badly injured.

He condemned the invasion and killings, describing the situation as unacceptable even as he stressed that Benue State has a law which prohibits open grazing of livestock, and that only a terrorist group would deliberately choose to violate the legislation as the alleged herders have done since the law was enacted in 2017.