Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has raised an alarm over an alleged plan by bandits to abduct and kill him.
The governor raised the alarm on Friday, during an interactive session with traditional rulers and other stakeholders on the peaceful conduct of the elections in 2019, organised by the Makurdi Catholic Diocese in the Benue State capital.
Ortom said he received information that there were plans to attack his convoy on his way to Abuja, kill his security personnel, and thereafter kidnap and torture him to death.
According to him, the plan to kill him was because he dared to speak out over the invasion of communities and the massive killings in the state.
He added that following the information, he sometimes has to take chartered flights to Abuja.
He, however, stated that such flights have been stopped from landing at the Makurdi airport.
Furthermore, he blamed the insecurity in the state on the inability of the government to arrest and prosecute those behind the attacks since the beginning of the year.
“If those that perpetuate violence like armed herdsmen, are arrested, prosecuted, jailed or appropriate sanctions applied on them, it will serve as deterrence for that contemplating violence in the future,” he stressed.
He, therefore, called on Nigerians to “use the 2019 elections to demand an end to the Fulani herdsmen’s aggravated violence.”
CTV
