Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has raised another alarm over an alleged plot by herders to attack his convoy and kill him along the Makurdi-Lafia highway.
This is the second time within a month that the governor is alleging plans by herders to cause more unrest in the state and to kill him after calling the attention of security agencies on Wednesday, August 1, over alleged invasion of part of the state by herdsmen with more than 10,000 cows.
Ortom who raised the latest alarm yesterday at an interactive session between the church, traditional institution and other stakeholders towards peace building, organized by the Makurdi Catholic Diocese held at the Pastoral Center in Makurdi, emphasised that the alleged plot included his kidnap, torture and thereafter to kill him.
He told the gathering that the information was an intelligence report he got which indicated that the herders who are currently occupying part of his home Guma Local Government Area would laid a siege for him on the Makurdi-Lafia highway.
The governor further disclosed that the intelligence report indicated that all his security aides would be killed during the attack after which they would kidnap him, torture him before killing him adding that, he had reported the matter to the police and other security agencies.
He said based on the findings whenever he slept and wake up and his spirit doesn’t allow him to travel by road, he would call flight operators but expressed worry that just a few days ago, the federal government issued a circular that no flight should land in Makurdi airport again.
Ortom also alleged that some Benue indigenes were conniving with other forces in Abuja to kill him even as he stressed the need for the federal government to urgently address the killings across Nigeria by herders militia to pave way for peaceful election in 2019.
Meanwhile in an interview with newsmen, the Catholic Bishop of Makurdi, Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, maintained that over 306 traditional rulers, youths, members of both Catholic Women Organisation (CWO) and Catholic Men Organisation (CMO) and other stakeholders were invited for the meeting to educate them on a violence free election ahead of 2019.
