Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has charged residents of the state to procure dane guns to defend themselves from violent herdsmen bearing AK-47 rifles.
Benue State has been one of the states trying to contain violent herdsmen who are unleashing mayhem across the country. The situation in the North-Central state worsened after the state enacted a law banning open grazing.
The nefarious activities of the herders also prompted southern state governors to proscribe open grazing in the South-East, South-West and South-South geo-political zones.
According to the governors, the activities of the herders have threatened food security in the regions. Most Northerners who have never condemned the criminal activities of the problematic herdsmen reacted after the ban with Abubakar Malami, Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) saying the ban is unconstitutional.
Mr Malami’s position was immediately countered with Southern governors advising him to challenge their resolve in court as they are not going to back down from implementing open grazing ban.
In Benue, the governor advised his people to acquire dane guns and defend themselves against the violent herders.
“I will no longer announce the deaths of those killed by Fulani herdsmen, rise up and defend yourselves with weapons not prohibited by law, bows and arrows, spears and knives,” Mr Ortom said while attending an inter-denominational church service at the government house in Makurdi on Sunday.
“Get a licence for dane guns from local government chairmen and use them to defend yourselves.
“God assured me some time back that as long as I lived within the circle of his presence, no weapon fashioned against me shall prosper,” the governor, who himself escaped being assassinated, added.
