Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has confessed that he has not been able to sleep for more than 20 minutes every night because of the level of insecurity in rural surroundings of the state.
The insecurity has led to the death of hundreds of persons with over 170,000 people displaced from their homes since the beginning of this year when gunmen laid siege on several communities of the agrarian state.
Ortom who decried how much sleep had eluded him due to the killings of his people when he played host to the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Church, Prof. Paul Emeka in Makurdi on Friday, however said he was hopeful that God has taken over the battle.
"We couldn’t have been using swords or guns to fight them (gunmen) but as we pray, God will fight for us. Since this problem started, I have not been able to sleep for more than 20 minutes without waking up," he said.
The governor emphasised that the security agencies of the country must do their best while those in leadership must take responsibility to end the killings as his citizens cannot continue living like refugees in their own land.
Earlier, Prof. Emeka, who led key members of the church to condole with the government and people of Benue state, donated relief materials for the displaced people and prayed for further killings to stop in the state.