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FG May Reopen N100 Billion Odili Case

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FG May Reopen N100 Billion Odili Case
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Former Rivers State Governor, Peter Odili

The federal government could reopen a N100 billion embezzlement case against former governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili.

THE PUNCH newspaper, quoted Itse Sagay, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, as faulting a Federal High Court Judge for granting a perpetual injunction which has scuttled the ex-governor’s prosecution.

Justice Ibrahim Buba had given an order of perpetual injuction preventing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and any other government anti-corruption agency from prosecuting or arresting Odili, who was accused of allegedly embezzling about N100bn of Rivers State money during his eight-year tenure as governor.

The PACAC chairman said, “That judgment was unconstitutional. The judge who gave that perpetual injunction did what was unconstitutional.

“In effect, he was saying that the police should not do their work. He was removing the prosecutorial powers of the police and the prosecution in Nigeria.

“It is illegal and Supreme Court judgments have said so.  So, the whole thing we should do now is to restore legality so that if you are charged, you should be able to come to court and defend yourself instead of asking that you should not be investigated.

“That is totally illegal and unconstitutional and not acceptable.”

Sagay urged anti-corruption agencies not to be demoralized by such developments, adding that efforts were on to ensure that such orders would never again be given by the law courts.

“The important thing is not to give up because if you give up, the whole system will collapse,” he said.

“Personally, I have said any judge that gives an order of perpetual injunction against investigation, interrogation and arrest, should be regarded as having committed a serious act of wrongdoing, which should merit disciplinary action by the NJC.

“I can assure you that under the new system that we are all running, there is no case that will be allowed to remain permanently under injunction. They will have to go through the process and be declared guilty or not guilty.

“This case can be reopened, definitely,” the Professor stated.

The PUNCH reports that On December 12, 2006, the EFCC had issued an interim investigative report and prepared a draft of 223 charges against Odili, accusing him of embezzling N100bn during his tenure.

But in a counter move, the then Attorney General of the state, Odein Ajumogobia, SAN, on February 23, 2007, sued the EFCC, the then Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rotimi Amaechi, and other defendants in a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt.

In the suit, Buba of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt granted Odili’s prayer to bar the EFCC from investigating, prosecuting or ever harassing him and officials of his administration.

It was learnt that the EFCC had filed an appeal at the appellate court since 2008 but the case had not been assigned to anybody.

Strange Matter Wins Physics Nobel

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Strange Matter Wins Physics Nobel

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The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to three British-born scientists for discoveries about strange forms of matter.

David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz, will share the £727,000 prize money.

They were named at a press conference in Sweden, and join a prestigious list of 200 other Physics laureates recognised since 1901.

The Nobel Committee said the work had “opened the door on an unknown world”.

When matter is in extreme conditions, such as when it’s very cold or flat, scientists start to see unusual behaviour from the atoms.

These phenomena complement the more familiar phases of matter, namely when things change from solid to liquid to gas.

The laureates’ discoveries had helped scientists in designing new materials.

Old work, new uses

Prof Haldane commented: “I was very surprised and very gratified.”

“The work was a long time ago but it’s only now that a lot of tremendous new discoveries are based on this original work, and have extended it.”

All three researchers used maths to explain strange physical effects in rare states of matter, such as superconductors, superfluids and thin magnetic films.

Kosterlitz and Thouless focused on phenomena that arise in flat forms of matter – on surfaces or inside extremely thin layers that can be considered two-dimensional.

This contrasts with the three dimensions (length, width and height) with which we usually describe reality.

Haldane also studied matter that forms threads so thin they can be considered one-dimensional.

Acting chairman of the Nobel committee, Nils Mårtensson, commented: “Today’s advanced technology – take for instance our computers – relies on our ability to understand and control the properties of the materials involved.

“And this year’s Nobel laureates in their theoretical work discovered a set of totally unexpected regularities in the behaviour of matter, which can be described in terms of an established mathematical concept – namely, that of topology.

“This has paved the way for designing new materials with novel properties and there is great hope that this will be important for many future technologies.”

Although British in origin, the three individuals all now live and work in the US.

David Thouless was born in 1934 in Bearsden. He is an emeritus professor at the University of Washington.

Duncan Haldane was born in 1951 in London. He is a professor of physics at Princeton University.

Michael Kosterlitz was born in 1942 in Aberdeen. He is currently affiliated to Brown University.

FG Kicks Over Nigerian Students Arrested In Turkey

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FG Kicks Over Nigerian Students Arrested In Turkey
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama

The federal government has said that the arrest of two Nigerian students in Turkey may not be unconnected to Nigeria’s refusal to shut down some Turkish schools and institutions in Nigeria as demanded by the Turkish government.

Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sola Enikanolaye, made this known in a submission to the Minister of Foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, in Abuja following the arrest of some 50 Nigerians studying in Turkey last Friday, for an alleged link to a terrorist organization in the country.

Also, the Charge D’Affaires of the Nigerian Mission in Turkey, Ibrahim Isah, revealed that two Nigerian students had been in detention for more than two months at a Prison in Istanbul, Turkey, for allegedly being members of the Fethulla Terrorist Organisation, a group accused of the failed coup attempt in Turkey.

Many of the Nigerians were said to be students of Fatih University, one of the many schools shut down by the Turkish government after the failed coup attempt in July.

Enikanolaye stated, “Surely, accusing the students of links to a terrorist organisation is serious even though we know the state of paranoid that has beset the leadership of Turkey following the failed coup attempt.  Our students seem to have been caught in the web of internal politics of Turkey and the clampdown on FETO that was accused of the coup.

“This has severely fractured the country, putting it on a collision course with the civilised members of the international community. The action against our students must have been a reaction to our refusal to close Turkish schools and institutions in Nigeria as arrogantly demanded by the Turkish Government.’’

In a separate report sent to the Foreign affairs minister by the chief of Nigeria’s mission to Turkey, Isah, the two Nigerian students who have been in detention for over one month, had completed their programmes and were waiting for their certificates before their arrest.

According to Isah, the Nigerians, Hassan Adamu and Muhammad Abdullahi, were on the scholarship of the Yobe State Government, and their offence was that they were living in a hostel facilitated by the International Students’ Association, an organisation believed to have links with FETO.

The report read in part: “According to Mohammad, they were preparing to vacate the hostel on that fateful day, having heard that the so-called International Students’ Association was being linked to FETO and that the hostel was under investigation.

“Unfortunately for them, the hostel was raided before they could move out. They believed that the police were given prior information of the presence of foreign students in the hostel.

“After the raid, nothing implicating was found on them except three religious books that the police believe were incriminating. Both denied ownership of the books which seemed to put to rest any doubts in the minds of the police that they were members of FETO. Thus, they were immediately arrested and taken to the police station for interrogation and subsequently transferred to Silivri Prisons.”

It would be recalled that that Turkey, through its ambassador to Nigeria, had demanded that the federal government closed down 17 Turkish schools in Nigeria, alleging that they were owned by terrorists who tried to overthrow the country’s democratically elected president.

But the demand was not acceded to because the Nigerian government said the said institutions were owned by private individuals who had not been proven to have violated any Nigerian or international law.

EFCC, Former Governor Bicker On Ownership Of 48 Houses

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EFCC, Former Governor Bicker On Ownership Of 48 Houses
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Former Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva

Former Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva has denied ownership of 48 houses in Abuja as alleged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC.

There were reports on Monday that three Federal High Courts had struck out the corruption cases against Sylva, meaning that the former governor has regained access to the 48 houses, which were hitherto sealed off by the EFCC during its investigations.

Sylva, in a statement by his media aide, Doifie Buokoribo, said he owned only three houses in Abuja, but the EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, insisted that the ex-governor owned the 48 houses, allegedly returned to him.

Uwujaren added that the commission had begun fresh moves to challenge the return of the said houses to Sylva before the Court of Appeal.

Buokoribo said in the statement that Sylva did “not own 48 buildings in Abuja or anywhere in the world” as neither he nor the courts had, at any time, confirmed his ownership of such properties.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Sylva does not own 48 buildings in Abuja or anywhere in the world. So the issue of reclaiming ‘48 houses’ does not arise.

“He has only three houses in Abuja, which he built before he became the governor of Bayelsa State.

“This point has been made several times before, and neither the EFCC nor those who had used EFCC as a tool of persecution against Sylva during the Goodluck Jonathan administration have contradicted this fact,” the ex-governor’s aide stated.

However, spokesman for the EFCC, Uwujaren, in a telephone interview with a correspondent from the PUNCH newspaper, confirmed the existence of the houses, adding that the agency plans to appeal the judgment.

He said: “I have just spoken to Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), who is in charge of the case. He confirmed to me that the EFCC has begun moves to appeal the case which means that he (Sylva) should have no access to the houses.”

Some of the houses, according to Uwujaren, include a mansion at 3 River Niger Street, Plot 3192 Cadastral Zone AO, Maitama District, Abuja; nine units (comprising six one-bedroom and three two-bedroom apartments) at 8 Sefadu Street, Wuse, Zone 2, Plot 262 Cadastral Zone AO2, Wuse, Abuja, and two duplexes at 5 Oguta Street, Plot 906 Cadastral Zone, Wuse II, Abuja.

Others include a duplex on Plot 1271 Nike Street, Cadastral Zone AO5, Maitama District, Abuja; a duplex at Phase 1 Unit No. 1 (Villa 1) Palm Springs Gold Estate, Cachez Turkey Projects Limited, Mpape, Abuja; 10 units of one-room apartments at 8 Mistrata Street, Plot 232 Cadastral Zone, Wuse II, Abuja; five units duplexes on Plot No 1070 Dakibiyu District, Cadastral Zone B10, Abuja; 16 units service apartments at Plot 1181 Thaba Tseka Crescent, off IBB Way, Wuse II, Abuja, and three units of three-bedroom flats at No. 1 Mubi Close, Plot 766 Cadastral Zone A01, Garki, Abuja.

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Orubebe Loses Asset As Tribunal Finds Him Guilty

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Orubebe Loses Asset As Tribunal Finds Him Guilty

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Former minister of Niger Delta affairs, Godsday Orubebe, has been found guilty of false declaration of asset by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT.

Chairman of the tribunal, Danladi Umar, gave the judgement in Abuja on Tuesday.

The federal government had filed a one-count charge of false declaration of asset against Orubebe, claiming that he committed the offence while he was a public officer.

Umar said: “‎I hereby seize, on behalf of the federal government, the property known as plot 2057.

“The prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, and all evidence tendered are admitted.”

He held that Orubebe committed an offence for not declaring a piece of property in Abuja, which he claimed he had sold.

Orubebe will be remembered for his infamous lash-out on former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Attahiru Jega, during the 2015 presidential election collation exercise; a failed attempt to disrupt the proceedings that eventually saw President Muhammadu Buhari emerging victorious.

Proceeds of Buhari’s Biography To Go To Charity

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Proceeds of Buhari’s Biography To Go To Charity

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Author of the biography of President Muhammadu Buhari, has said that proceeds from the book launch would be used to finance charity initiatives across the country, including the humanitarian criis in the Northeast.

The biography titled “Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria” was written by John Paden, an American Professor of International Studies charities and was launched on Monday at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.

“Let me say that the proceeds of the launch of this book will all go to some select charities including humanitarian aid to the Internally Displaced People in the North East,” Paden said.

The book launch, which was chaired by former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, also had many prominent Nigerians in attendance as well as guests from the West African Sub-region, including the Presidents of Niger, Chad and Benin Republic.

However, organisers of the event said that no one was allowed to make donations in millions of naira, rather, the book would be launched at N1500 for the soft cover, N2500 for the hard cover and N10,000 for the leather cover.

Chairman of the occasion, Gowon, poured encomiums on President Buhari, saying that he has distinguished himself both as a soldier and as a politician.

Citing the President’s failed attempts at winning the presidential election, Gowon said “2015 was an affirmation that persistence pays,” adding that he was confident that Buhari would “restore the economy and alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians.”

Among the book reviewers were Bola Tinubu, former Lagos state Governor and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Tinubu eulogized president Buhari, saying that his “heroic role” in the formation of the APC has led to the “rescue of Nigeria”.

Also, former US Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, said president Buhari has shown “deep concern for female education” and patriotism both as a military officer and Head of State.

A former Nigerian permanent representative to the United Nations, Ibrahim Gambari who also served as Nigeria’s foreign Minister under Mr. Buhari, took time to brief the audience about the humorous nature of the president.

Former President Obasanjo, who was a special guest at the event noted that he has various “encounters” with president Buhari due to political differences, but those disagreements and differences never affected their personal relationship.

Obasanjo described the biography as “surely intriguing, inspiring and a mix of history and current affairs together”.

In his vote of thanks, president Buhari said he was surprised by the large turnout of guests at the event, especially as Monday was a public holiday and many people would have preferred to spend time with their loved ones.

He also thanked the author, Paden “who tolerated me for the stories I tried to tell him.”

Ekiti PDP Lawmaker-Elect Demands To Be Sworn In

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Ekiti PDP Lawmaker-Elect Demands To Be Sworn In
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File: Governor Ayo Fayose congratulating the Speaker, Kola Oluwawole after his swearing-in in 2015

Toyin Obayemi, a member-elect of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, has written an open letter to governor Ayo Fayose, asking him to direct the Speaker of the Assembly, Kola Oluwawole, to obey court orders and swear him into office.

In the letter, Obayemi alleged that members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have been obstructing his inauguration, despite a valid court order to that effect.

A Federal High Court in Ado Ekiti had on July 4, ousted Musa Arogundade, who represented Ado-Ekiti 1 constituency, ruling that Obayemi was the validly elected candidate in April 11, 2015 election that held in Ekiti State, and ordering that he be sworn in immediately.

In the letter copied to the traditional ruler of Ado-Ekiti, Adeyemo Adejugbe, and one of Nigeria’s most prominent lawyers, Afe Babalola, SAN, Obayemi said the persistent refusal of the PDP-dominated Assembly to swear him in “is portraying the party in bad light”.

The letter read in part: “We must not forget that this is a case of PDP versus PDP and the opposition will not stop laughing at us as a result of the stand of the Speaker refusing to obey court judgment.

“Sir, I remain a committed and a financial member of the party, and as the leader of the party here in Ekiti, I want to urge you to look at this case from the point of view that all members of the party are one and equal before you, and I appeal to you to use your good offices to let the world know that PDP is not a lawless party.”

Obayemi said it was mind boggling that the speaker of the House has refused to swear him in on the excuse that the case was still at the appeal court.

“I want to say that till date, I am yet to receive a letter informing me of such position,” he said.

He urged the governor to “please advise the Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, to do the needful in accordance with the court judgment of July 4, 2016, and perform my swearing-in ceremony.”

“Permit me with every sense of respect to say that the Speaker should know that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones,” Obayemi concluded.

Public Schools In Bayelsa Remain Shut Over 7 Months’ Salary Arrears

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Public Schools In Bayelsa Remain Shut Over 7 Months’ Salary Arrears
Gov. Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State
Gov. Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State

Secondary and primary schools in Bayelsa State have yet to resume for the new academic year following the inability of the state government to clear seven months’ salary arrears owed teachers in public schools.

Teachers in public schools in Bayelsa who are on strike declined to resume work at the end of the long vacation which terminated in the first week of September.

The development has kept pupils and students in government primary and secondary schools at home, more than three weeks into the new academic year.

Bayelsa chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, in a statement on Monday advised teachers to stay at home as the union was yet to shift grounds on its demand on the unpaid salary arrears.

They said the industrial action became inevitable after the 21-day ultimatum given by the State Executive Council of the NUT to the government expired on Sept 19.

According to the statement signed by the state Chairman, NUT, Kalaama Toinpre, and Johnson Hector, Secretary, the teachers frowned at efforts to factionalize the union.

The Bayelsa NUT maintained that it remained the only legally recognized body charged with the responsibility of agitating for the welfare of primary and secondary school teachers.

It was gathered that the governor Seriake Dickson led government in Bayelsa had recognized a rival body known as Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools and was holding clandestine talks with them to abort the strike that has crippled the educational system.

Sources close to the plan said that the government was planning a staggered payment of selected secondary school teachers who are in the factional group who will pledge to return to school while the primary school teachers will be left to their fate.

The NUT regretted that the government had reneged on an earlier agreement reached in May 2016 to pay half salaries to its workforce pending the improvement in the finances of the state.

It said that the state government had only paid teachers their January salaries in full and a half-month salary followed in February leaving arrears of seven months.

Bayelsa Commissioner for Education,  Markson Fefegha, confirmed the allegations  that the government  was involved in factionalising the work force.

Fefegha said the government had been meeting with the teachers to resolve the issues raised, but declined further comments on the fate of primary school teachers in the state.

“I have been meeting with the executive of the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, I have been explaining to them our efforts so far in meeting our salary obligations.” Fefegha said.

Authorities Fail To Renew Salkida’s Passport

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Authorities Fail To Renew Salkida’s Passport
Ahmed Salkida
Ahmed Salkida

Reports indicate that the passport of Ahmed Salkida, the journalist who was declared wanted by the army for allegedly having links to the Boko Haram terroris group, has not been renewed by the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS.

An online newspaper, THE CABLE reports that the refusal of the Nigerian army to issue a public apology after it cleared Salkida of felony, may have resulted in the journalist being blacklisted.

Salkida is said to have contacts to some Boko Haram fighters, and the group usually pass information through him, to the public.

For instance, when the Boko Haram released a new video purportedly showing the kidnapped Chibok girls, the video was first sent to Salkida, who shared it on his tweeter handle the night before the terrorists posted it on youtube.

He was consequently declared wanted on August 15, alongside two others,  and he travelled from his base in the United Arab Emirates, where he was on self-exile, to answer the summon by Nigeria’s military authorities.

At the time, Salkida’s passport was said to have expired, but NIS officials in the UAE did not renew it rather he was issued with a travel certificate.

The Cable’s report noted that “till date, the immigration service is yet to issue him his new passport despite his application, suggesting that he might have been blacklisted.”

Salkida was reported to have demanded a public apology from the army after his interrogation, without which he would not be cleared to return to the UAE where his wife and four children resided.

“The security authorities in Nigeria promised to issue the apology but did not and the journalist had no other option than to bring his family abruptly to Abuja, last week,” the report quoted a security source as saying.

Salkida, in various posts on his Twitter handle, had lamented the “stigma” and “unbearable suffering” he has had to endure since he was linked to the Boko Haram.

On Sunday, he tweeted that he may be forced to open an online account in order to publicly raise funds.

“I will soon set up a gofundme account, as painful as this is, it is the most pragmatic thing to do before I get my life back,” he wrote in the tweet.

Salkida believes that he is being unjustly punished by the Nigerian authorities for being a “credible counter” to the some of the “misleading narrative” on the war in the north-east.

However, when Ekpedeme King, spokesman of the NIS, was contacted on the issue, he said: “I can’t confirm that, but it is not true.”

Also, an army source who did not want to be named, said the army never promised to issue a public apology to Salkida.

“The army has not made a statement on this issue, and it will remain so until investigation is concluded,” he said. “There was never a time the army promised to issue a public apology to anybody. When the time comes, the army will issue a statement.”

My State Under Siege, Governor Cries Out

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My State Under Siege, Governor Cries Out
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom

The governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom has cried out to the federal government to take decisive action to stop the continued invasion and occupation of the state by herdsmen or the people would be left with no option than to resort to self-help.

For several months, suspected Fulani herdsmen have reportedly terrorized communities in Benue State, killing and displacing hundreds of people, and destroying property and farmlands worth millions of naira.

In an interview with PREMIUM TIMES, governor Ortom said Benue State is“completely under siege by Fulani herdsmen,” adding that the claim that the farmers were killing their cattle was not true.

He said, “We’ve heard the herdsmenaccusing our people of killing their cattle, which is not true.

“Two wrongs can’t make a right. We have been telling our people that there is no need going after Fulanis or their cattle.

“We are farmers and very enterprising. There is no way a herdsman will come into Benue without encroaching on somebody’s farm. There is no way grazing and farming can go together.”

Governor Ortom noted that his administration has given the security agencies all the support they need to restore peace and order in the state, “but it is unfortunate that up till today, there is no time the security men came and told me that one arrest has been made.

He said that the herdsmen go about freely and there is no sanction against them.

“The level of impunity exhibited by the herdsmen is very worrisome,” he added.

Benue State is known as the “food basket of the nation”, but the governor said that the issue of herdsmen/farmers clashes meant “our people can no longer go to their farms,” leading to more hardship in the face of the already challenging period Nigeria was going through.

Ortom said; “Benue State is the food basket of the nation. Now that we are talking about diversification of the economy to other sectors, what readily comes to mind in Benue State is agriculture.

“This is where we have comparative advantage. And it is unfortunate that the herdsmen are not allowing our people to go back to farm. It is a big challenge to me as the governor of the state.”

Reports have it that in some areas in Benue State, for instance, in Moon Ward in Kwande local government Area, the last time pupils went to school there was in October 2013, but the governor said the situation in his state has been grossly under-reported.

“I wish it is possible to go around to appreciate the magnitude of the destruction, killings and stealing that are taking place.

“The truth of the matter is that apart from Moon, there are several other communities that have no opportunity of getting their children back to school for several years.

“There are people who have been barred from going back to their homes for several years.

“I strongly wished that the federal government would collaborate with us to find lasting solution to this problem.

“As I speak, our people are in extremely distress situation and what is happening in the state today is worse than what is happening in the North-east where Boko Haram has ravaged the area,” Ortom lamented.

He added that the military, the Nigerian Police and all the other security agencies in the state seem to be overwhelmed by the situation, despite the numerous support so far given to them by the state government.

He said: “I must also admit that the security men are overwhelmed with the violence and destruction that herdsmen have unleashed on the state.

“The militia used by the herdsmen are well-trained and they are really sophisticated. They are conversant with modern technology of destruction.

“This is the more reason I have said that the federal government should take a decisive action against these herdsmen and their militia that are terrorizing and killing our people.

“Of course, I do not control the military, the police and even the civil defence because all of them are federal agencies. That is why we are appealing to the federal government to give our security agencies the necessary support ranging from finance, weapons and other things that they require to deal with the challenge,” Ortom said.

On what must be done to bring about a lasting solution to the killings and destruction caused by incessant herdsmen/farmers clashes, the governor said: “I want to say that they only way we can go out of this problem is for cattle to be ranched.

“If that is not done, then there will be no land to graze and farm at the same time.

“I hope that Nigerians would rise up and support Benue State in this very difficult time.”

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