Ortom: How Herdsmen Opened Fire On My Convoy

*Says he ran 1.5km to escape unhurt

Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has narrated how he escaped an
attempt on his life by gunmen, suspected to be herdsmen, who
attacked him on his farm Saturday. The governor said he ran 1.5
kilometers to escape unhurt.

Briefing journalists at the Benue Peoples House after the
incident, the governor said he was inspecting his farm on Saturday
when armed herders, dressed in black, opened fire on him and his
security aides.

He said it took the swift response of his security aides to
repel the attack, while he ran a long distance to escape
unhurt.

“If not for my security men and God I would have been dead by
now, I ran over 1.5 kilometers to escape while my security men
repelled the herdsmen”, he said.

The governor claimed that the attack came few days after the
leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore held a meeting in Yola and
singled him out as a thorn in their flesh and must be
eliminated.

He said he received intelligence to that effect.

Governor Ortom said his life was in the hands of God and no
ethnic militia had the power to take it without God’s
permission.

He said as many times as they try, they would continue to
fail.

He stated that the ranching law of the state will not be
repealed for any reason, stressing that no intimidation could force
his administration to reverse the decision of Benue people against
open grazing.

The governor said he would send a petition to President
Muhammadu Buhari and security chiefs against Miyetti Allah Kautal
Hore, adding that allowing the leadership of the group to walk
freely with security personnel attached to them was not in the best
interest of the country.

Earlier, Ortom’s media aide, Mr Terver Akase, who was in Makurdi
at the time of the attack, had told journalist that the governor’s
convoy was ambushed at Tyo mu community, a distance of less than 20
kilometers from the Benue State capital while returning from his
farm along Gboko road.

*Says he ran 1.5km to escape unhurt

Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has narrated how he escaped an
attempt on his life by gunmen, suspected to be herdsmen, who
attacked him on his farm Saturday. The governor said he ran 1.5
kilometers to escape unhurt.

Briefing journalists at the Benue Peoples House after the
incident, the governor said he was inspecting his farm on Saturday
when armed herders, dressed in black, opened fire on him and his
security aides.

He said it took the swift response of his security aides to
repel the attack, while he ran a long distance to escape
unhurt.

“If not for my security men and God I would have been dead by
now, I ran over 1.5 kilometers to escape while my security men
repelled the herdsmen”, he said.

The governor claimed that the attack came few days after the
leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore held a meeting in Yola and
singled him out as a thorn in their flesh and must be
eliminated.

He said he received intelligence to that effect.

Governor Ortom said his life was in the hands of God and no
ethnic militia had the power to take it without God’s
permission.

He said as many times as they try, they would continue to
fail.

He stated that the ranching law of the state will not be
repealed for any reason, stressing that no intimidation could force
his administration to reverse the decision of Benue people against
open grazing.

The governor said he would send a petition to President
Muhammadu Buhari and security chiefs against Miyetti Allah Kautal
Hore, adding that allowing the leadership of the group to walk
freely with security personnel attached to them was not in the best
interest of the country.

Earlier, Ortom’s media aide, Mr Terver Akase, who was in Makurdi
at the time of the attack, had told journalist that the governor’s
convoy was ambushed at Tyo mu community, a distance of less than 20
kilometers from the Benue State capital while returning from his
farm along Gboko road.