– Urges FG to increase OPWS personnel
Attah Ede Makurdi
The Tiv Area Traditional Council, on Wednesday, condemned in very strong terms the incessant, brutal and mindless attacks (not communal clashes) on innocent, unarmed farmers and farming communities especially border communities by suspected herdsmen.
The Council further urged the Federal Government to deploy more personnel of the Operation Whirl Stroke, to fight terrorists and bandits in the state following the frequent attacks on tiv farmers.
This was contained in a communique reached at the end of the emergency meeting of the Council held on Tuesday, under the chairmanship of the Tor Tiv and paramount ruler of the Tiv nation, His Royal Majesty, Orchivirigh Professor James Ayatse.
The council which lamented the deteriorating security situation in Tiv land raised concern that herdsmen and bandits have crippled farming, travelling and decent living in border communities and now occupy large territories.
The communique which was signed the Chairman of the committee and Secretary, Tiv Area Traditional Council, HRH Clement Uganden, Tor Jechira and Shinyi Tyozua, respectively, commended President Muhammadu Buhari on the OPWS in Benue and urged him to expand their numerical and technical capacity to fight the terrorists and bandits with greater firepower and guarantee the safety of lives and property in the state.
The council also commended Governor Samuel Ortom for his visionary legislations in the enactment of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law 2017, Community Volunteer Guards Law implementation and for supporting federal security agencies in the state to perform effectively.
They also appealed to the federal government to give the necessary support to facilitate the return of victims of the prolonged attacks to their ancestral homes just as they called Benue sons and daughters to close ranks and confront the common challenges that threaten their very existence.
The council also called on politicians and their agents to carry out issue-based campaigns and restrain themselves from the use of offensive language and hate speech during the electioneering in order to maintain the peace a d human dignity in Tiv land.
The tiv traditional leaders acknowledged the commendable performance of the country’s military and other security agencies, and Operation Whirlstroke, a security outfit deployed by the Federal Government to the State as well as several other complementary initiatives by His Excellency Governor Samuel Ortom, including the establishment of Community Volunteer Guards to maintain peace and check insecurity without which local resistance would long have crumbled.
The council also set up a committee to find ways of mitigating the youth restiveness in the land.
The meeting was attended by first, second and third class traditional rulers, among others, who deliberated on security reports from the 14 LGAs of the kingdom
