–Accuses gov of ignoring intelligence reports to tackle insecurity in Benue
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday mocked the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom for failing to win his election to go to the Senate, claiming that the people of the state rejected him because of his alleged woeful performance in eight years.
The President also accused the outgoing governor of frustrating all peaceful efforts made towards solving the security situation in the state, adding that instead of embracing the government efforts, the governor was busy politicising everything thing.
President Buhari via a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said that the Benue people would heave a sigh of relief that the governor is exiting office, while a more responsible governor will be mounting the saddle.
The statement entitled, “President Buhari’s Benue record speaks for itself, let the people of Benue speak for themselves too,” said governor Ortom ignored numerous intelligence reports passed to him for action.
He said, “In a series of apparently syndicated editorials, this country’s newspapers – the Daily Trust and ThisDay – have attempted to lay the blame of the dire security situation in Benue State entirely at the feet of the outgoing president. As for the man who has actually presided over Benue State for the past eight years, its outgoing governor Samuel Ortom, the editors of those publications, in their near identical articles, elected to give him a free pass.
“Fortunately, the people of Benue State know the truth. After all, it is they who have suffered under Ortom’s “leadership” – if one can call it such. It is they who have experienced first-hand the mass killings, the torture, the litany of atrocities as Benue’s security situation plummeted ever further. It is they who buried their loved ones while watching their careless, irresponsible and incompetent governor politicise on those freshly dug graves.
“And it is they who turned to the last privilege they had left: their democratic privilege, to resoundingly kick out Ortom and his so-called People’s Democratic Party in favour of a new governor, Reverend Father Hyacinth Iornem Alia from Buhari’s party, the APC.
“But since the Daily Trust and ThisDay may not be as well informed as their Benue compatriots, this blatant rewriting of history must be addressed. For their education, we humbly submit a list – far from exhaustive – of the steps taken personally by President Buhari to address the deteriorating situation in Benue. These were, in many cases, roundly ignored – if not outright obstructed – by former Governor Ortom:
“i. A number of in-person meetings with the Governor of Benue State and other community leaders, assuring them of the Federal Government’s commitment to protecting farmers and communities.
“ii. The establishment and funding of Joint Security Operations, code-named Operation Whirl Stroke (OWS). To date, the OWS Team remains in place. A number of OWS security agents have given their lives protecting the people of Benue. Many were endangered further by Ortom’s fake news and disinformation campaigns, and his unwillingness to engage with the project.
“iii. The deployment of special security forces to flash-points in the State including the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Police Force, Department of State Services and other security agencies.
“iv. The deployment of an array of NAF fighter aircraft, Mi-35 helicopter gunships as well as Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance platforms.
“v. The Deployment of ten (10) Units of the Police Mobile Force, Ten (10) Units of Police Special Forces (Tactical Operation Units) and Aerial Surveillance Teams (Police Helicopters).
