Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has decried the aloofness of President Mohammadu Buhari in the face of the wanton killing of citizens across the country.
Ortom declared that the body language of the president suggests that he is only interested in being president for Fulani and not the other ethnic groups.
The governor spoke on Tuesday on the attack on Abegana village, which houses one of the eight designated Internally Displaced Persons’ camps in the state.
He said that 70 people had been killed in Makurdi, Guma and Gwer West local government areas in the last one week by suspected herdsmen.
He said the attack on Abegana IDP camp, where seven people were killed on Tuesday, should make the president to convene a security summit to discuss insecurity in the country.
Ortom said, “We are being overstretched and the people are fed up. We all cast our votes for President Buhari. He must not continue to be aloof. He must tell us where we are going in this country. The body language of the President shows that he is the President of the Fulani people.”
Meanwhile, it was gathered that the attack on the Abegana IDP camp was carried out by suspected herdsmen numbering about 10.
One of the victims said the men came in the early hours of Tuesday and killed seven people.
He said six persons were killed on the spot while one person died in hospital.
When our correspondent visited the village, youths had mounted roadblock to protest against the killing of the seven people.
The roadblock was said to have prevented vehicular movement on Makurdi-Laafia Road for several hours before the Ortom ordered its removal.
One of the victims of the attack who was receiving treatment at the state University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, David Avese, a father of seven, said he lost one kid to the herdsmen, while three others were shot.
Avese said, “The herdsmen surrounded our village around 12am; they were about 10 in number and they shot and entered people’s houses.
“They killed one of my children and shot three others. I have not seen my wife.”
Another victim, Gwabo Matthew said, “They (herdsmen) operated for over two hours. The attackers were Fulani because they were speaking in Fulfulde language.”
