The Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Benue state governor, Terver Akase, has noted that the acting Inspector-General of Police might have been misquoted in his statement on the attack on Governor Samuel Ortom.
This was contained in a statement issued Friday by the CPS sent to Blueprint in Abuja.
The statement read, “We read the statement credited to the Acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali in which he was quoted to have said that police arrested those who attacked Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom, but ‘their investigations so far show that the outcome is contrary to the claims made by the governor.’
“We want to believe that the Police Inspector-General was misquoted. This is because the investigative team the office of the IGP deployed to Benue after the assassination attempt on the governor confirmed the identities of the attackers as armed Fulani herdsmen.
“It is, therefore, shocking that the IGP has come out with a contrary statement to that of his investigative team.
“Less than 24 hours after the attempt on the governor’s life, the group called Fulani Nationality Movement, FUNAM claimed responsibility for the attack. The group’s statement was widely reported by the media. Yet, the Police IG was still searching for the killers elsewhere without inviting members of the group for questioning.
“This scenario was succinctly captured by Punch in its cartoon of March 22, 2021, regarding the attack on Governor Ortom.”
