Benue state government Tuesday described the allegations by the Miyyeti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) against Governor Samuel Ortom as a strategy to win sympathy, mislead other Nigerians and continue to pursue their occupation agenda of the ancestral lands of the people.
The government also said it will not be distracted by the blackmail of the cattle breeders.
The cattle breeders in Nasarawa state had in a report published in a national daily accused Benue state Governor Samuel Ortom of sponsoring multiple attacks on them with two military aircrafts which purportedly killed over 1,000 cows in Keana and Doma local government areas of Nasarawa state.
But reacting, Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism Mrs Ngunan Adingi said the report was another propaganda crafted by armed Fulani herders to sustain their war of attrition and hatred against Governor Ortom whom they have made their number one enemy.
Mrs Adingi described the allegation as unfounded saying it was a plot by the pastoralists to cause friction between the Benue state governor and his Nasarawa state counterpart, Engr. Abdullahi Sule.
“The herders raised the alarm that 1,000 of their cows were killed without any pictorial evidence to back their claim and they went on to lay several unfounded accusations against the military and the governor.
“The terrorists have sacked communities on the Benue/Nasarawa border and have taken over such areas. No farming activity takes place in the affected communities any longer.
“The military was only performing its duty of flushing out terrorists who wield AK47 and occupy the forests from where they launch attacks on innocent people. In the aerial surveillance carried out in border communities of Benue and Nasarawa states by Operation Whirl Stroke, no human life was lost and no cow was killed.
“The Government will sustain its support to security agencies to guarantee the safety of law abiding citizens,” she added.
