The Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom, has hinted that there is a plot by the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in the state led by one Gaurus Gololo to allegedly eliminate him.
He stated this when he spoke with journalists in the state after a meeting with his predecessor, Dr. Gabriel Suswam, and paramount ruler of the Tiv nation, the Tor Tiv, Prof. James Ayatse.
“There are threats on my life and I have reported that to the security agencies that one Gaurus Gololo and his team who are members of MACBAN was planning to attack me,” Ortom said.
He added; “But I always said life belongs to God, it is God that gives and takes away life so my life is not in the hands of any Fulani man who is not happy with the promulgation of the anti-open grazing law in the state”.
Meanwhile, Governor Ortom has agreed to sheathe his swords and work harmoniously with his predecessor, Dr. Gabriel Suswam, for the common good and development of the state.
This followed a reconciliatory meeting convened at the instance of paramount ruler of the Tiv nation, the Tor Tiv, Prof. James Ayatse, to mediate in the protracted face off between the two politicians of the Tiv extraction.
The peace meeting which took place at the palace of the Tor Tiv, started at about 5 pm on Sunday and spilled over to the early hours of yesterday attracting traditional rulers from both Sankera and Minda geopolitical axis from where the ex-governor and his successor hail from.
The meeting excluded journalists but according to sources, the Tiv monarch was said to have expressed deep sadness over the continued disagreement between the two illustrious Tiv sons whom he said are supposed to be attracting development to their people instead of been at loggerheads hence the need to call them together for reconciliation and to hear both sides.
But Ortom in a reaction, was said to have denied ever petitioning Suswam to the two anti graft agencies. He also said he did not detail the EFCC and ICPC to seize Suswam’s property, stressing that “they are doing that as part of their operational duty”
Speaking with journalists on the outcome of the meeting in his office yesterday, Governor Ortom said he personally agreed to put behind his animosity against his predecessor and work together for peace and development of the state.
Governor Ortom quoted the Tor Tiv as attributing some of the challenges confronting his administration to their inability to synergise and work together as a team, and stressed the need for them to bury their hatchets and contribute their quota for the development of the state and Tiv nation in particular.
“The meeting was convened at the instance of the Tor Tiv and I was there, former governor Gabriel Suswam was also there and principally the meeting was a peace meeting. The Tor Tiv told us that he noticed that for awhile, the relationship between myself and that of the former governor is not good and he needed us as his Tiv prominent sons to work together, that whatever is our differences we should sheathe our swords and work together for the common good of the people of Benue State”.
“He also attributed some of the challenges we are having today in Benue as a result our inability to synergise and work together as a team, and we agreed to work together to see how we can make Benue better than where we are”.
Ortom debunked claims that the reconciliation was because of 2019 political calculations, saying for now he has suspended all political activities pending when the killings by Fulani herdsmen is put to rest and thousands of internally displaced persons return to their ancestral homes.
