The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has narrated how no fewer than 15 armed herdsmen attacked his convoy along Makurdi/Gboko road in Makurdi Local Government Area of the state.
Ortom added that the gun-wielding men, who had laid siege for his convoy, launched the attack at Tyo Mu along Makurdi/Gboko road and that the intervention of his security details prevented any injury on him.
Addressing newsmen after the attack on Saturday after returning to the State House in Makurdi, the state capital, he alleged that the attack was orchestrated by Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) leadership that had been against his policy on grazing and that he would drag them before court.
The governor, who described the gunmen as ‘herdsmen’, said that over 15 of the attackers trailed him to the river bank where he was on foot before they were repelled by his aides.
While praising his security details that were just about six in number for repelling the attackers promptly before providing cover for him to return to safety and his vehicle, Ortom stressed that there was no way the MACBAN leadership could exonerate themselves from the attacks.
“My lawyer is going to make a petition against the leadership of MACBAN because they came out to target me and behind the scene, they are planning to eliminate me on my own land,” he said.
“If I can’t go to the farm as governor with entire security around me then who else can go to the farm? You can imagine the pains that we have here in Benue State.
“I appreciate the security personnel attached to me they were able to repel them and they could not have access to me,” the governor added.
The governor, meanwhile, disclosed that troops of Operation Whirl Stroke, the police, and DSS have been mobilised to the forest between Tyo-Mu and Abinse where the armed herdsmen are camped to comb the area.
He also called for the arrest and prosecution of the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore who only last week, gathered in Yola, the Adamawa State capital to single him out for assassination.
Speaking further, Ortom asked President Muhammadu Buhari and the security chiefs to expect a formal petition from his lawyers and move quickly to arrest the situation.
