12 Benue LGs under siege by Fulani herdsmen, says Ortom

Samuel Ortom, Benue governor, says that Fulani herdsmen have laid siege to 12 local government areas of the state.

A statement issued on Friday by Adebayo Oladeji, special assistant on media and communications to the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, quoted Ortom as making the statement while receiving a delegation of CAN, led by Samson Ayokunle.

The governor also noted that “it is impossible for grazing to go along side with farming,” adding that farmers cannot compete with herdsmen.

“Benue State has 23 Local Government Areas. But 12 have been under siege by the Fulani herdsmen. Benue State was completely under siege for two years. It is not a crime that God gave us green land and as we are known as the food basket of the nation, we are not going to farm in the air or on the sea, or any other place, it is on the land,” he said.

“There is no way we can compete with grazing. It is impossible for grazing to go along side with farming. And for several years, we have pleaded with the herdsmen, but they continue to kill.

“Even before I became governor, the lasting solution to the constant clashes between farmers and herdsmen is ranching, that is what the bill is saying. They have led to the increase in human activities, road networks, markets and other things, so it is unreasonable to think that grazing will continue in Nigeria.”