The Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has alleged threats to his life by a group of persons.
Ortom made this known in press conference in Makurdi on Thursday, stating that all manner of accusations have been levelled against him in a desperate attempt to set him up for hatred, vilification and attacks.
The governor pointed out that a letter signed by 52 personalities was sent to President Muhammadu Buhari and all manner of accusations were levelled against him over the killing of some pastoralists via bomb attack at Akwanaja in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
He said the group also tried to link the Benue State Livestock Guards with the killings, claiming that the pastoralists were bombed on their way from Benue to Nasarawa after they had retrieved their cattle.
“I consider these allegations and blackmail targeted at my person and the Government of Benue State as part of a grand conspiracy by enemies of the state to eliminate me. Since 2017 when we enacted the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, I have escaped seven assassination attempts.
“Those behind the evil plots have not hidden their motive. They have made me an enemy for choosing to stand with my people and defending their rights to life and freedom. The recent utterances of some personalities such as Lamido Sanusi have revealed the true identities of those behind the sinister agenda to eliminate me. But my life is in the hands of God and only He can permit anything evil to come my way,” he added.
Ortom who said he has written a petition over to matter to be delivered to Mr President, stressed that he had no hand in the killings and that when he heard about the bomb attack in Doma in which pastoralists were killed, he visited his counterpart of Nasarawa State, Governor Abdullahi Sule and sympathised with him and his people over the loss of his son and victims of the bomb incident.
He stressed that “I must state categorically that the Benue State Government under my leadership has no hand in the Akwanaja incident. Linking me with the bomb attack in Doma, Nasarawa State is the most unfair thing anyone would do to me.
“How am I connected or responsible for what did not take place in my state? Akwanaja is in Doma local government area of Nasarawa State, so how do I account for what did not take place in my state? I am Chief Security Officer only in Benue State.”
