By Chief Bemgba Iortyom Esq.
In protest against the continuing state of insecurity in Benue State which is attended by almost daily killings of helpless citizens, mostly peasant farmers, I will go without cutting my hair or combing it.
The mode of my hairstyle hence should be seen as a mark of my protest and solidarity with the victims and their survivors, and this I will continue to do until the situation is redressed, now or in the future.
Innocent people in Benue State have been at the receiving end of brutal and merciless atrocities by Fulani herdsmen, bandits and terrorists which has been on for some time now, with successive governmental administrations being unable to quell it.
The incumbent administration of Governor Hyacinth Alia had promised during the campaigns to end it and resettle displaced persons back to their ancestral lands. But that has not been the case, rather the governor has shown himself lost and without a concrete plan or initiative as to how to fulfill his promise in this regard.
Full blown open grazing which had been curtailed to a significant degree during the immediate past administration of Chief Samuel Ortom is back in full form, as armed herders now graze their cattle openly and wherever they choose to, including in homes and on the farms of the locals. The result, predictably, has always been violent conflict resulting in the killings and displacement of the unarmed and defenceless locals from their homes.
Bandits and terrorists too are having their reign largely unchallenged in their chosen enclaves, running what would rightly be termed as parallel sovereign authority to that of the statutory government.
I charge Benue people to demand of Governor Alia a fulfillment of his sworn duty to protect their lives and properties from terrorists and criminals, a duty he has relegated too far down the scale of his priorities. He has rather unfortunately opted to create and preoccupy himself more with political wars.
It is very much possible to secure Benue State and safeguard the lives and properties of the people, given the level of resources available to government and the enabling environment for achieving such objective created by the incumbent federal government as is remarkably different and much better than what obtained under the immediate past Buhari regime.
In protest against Governor Hyacinth Alia’s continuing failure to tackle insecurity in Benue State, despite having all he needs to do so, and in solidarity with the victims of his failure, I go unshaven.
Chief Bemgba Iortyom Esq,
Prospective Governorship Candidate,
PDP, Benue State – 2027.
